File:FIH hurricanes.png

The true color imagery from the NOAA-20 satellite's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument, shown here, is like looking at a picture of Earth. However, this imagery is not photography. It uses three of the instrument's 22 channels to create photorealistic images of the planet. The images are made from combining three color channels: red, green and blue (called "RGB"). Since the VIIRS channels 5, 4 and 3 are sensitive to the red, green and blue wavelengths of light, respectively, they can be combined to create these types of images. Combining other bands, or the same ones in different combinations, results in a completely different image. These types of RGB composites are used for many applications, such as differentiating snow/ice from cloud, ash/smoke from cloud, or even the boundaries between warm and cold air masses. The VIIRS true color images are processed at 750 meters per pixel and are available on a daily basis.

This image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taken or made as part of an employee's official duties. العربية ∙ čeština ∙ Deutsch ∙ Zazaki ∙ English ∙ español ∙ eesti ∙ suomi ∙ français ∙ hrvatski ∙ magyar ∙ italiano ∙ 日本語 ∙ 한국어 ∙ македонски ∙ മലയാളം ∙ Plattdüütsch ∙ Nederlands ∙ polski ∙ português ∙ română ∙ русский ∙ sicilianu ∙ slovenščina ∙ Türkçe ∙ Tiếng Việt ∙ 简体中文 ∙ 繁體中文 ∙ +/−