The imager provides the images that are seen on news programs and the Weather Channel. The imager has five channels. The primary channels seen by the public are the visible channel and the infrared channel. Naturally this picture is only useful during the daytime hours. The infrared channel picks up radiated heat originating from the earth and cloud surfaces.
Cold areas appear brighter on an infrared image than the earth s surface.
When looking at the Great Lakes during clear conditions, it is possible to get the approximate temperature of the ground and lake surface. Using the temperature of cloud tops, it is possible to estimate the height of the clouds. Colder cloud tops generally relate to thunderstorm intensity. During the winter season, forecasters at the Marquette weather office use satellite data to help forecast snow events and to determine the snowfall rates during lake effect snow events for short-term forecasting. Please read our disclaimer and privacy notice.