Basic Satellite Course

Welcome to the Basic Satellite Course! This is an entry level course for anyone interested in satellite meteorology.

The aim of this course is to give an overview on the basics of satellite meteorology: image analysis i.e. the interpretation of patterns in satellite images that are related to various meteorological phenomena. The course is asynchronous, which means that you can take it at your own pace as all the lectures are pre-prepared.

Quizzes are made for you to check your level of understanding.

There are currently 3 modules available, each covering a specific satellite skill complying with WMO Guidelines on Satellite Skills and Knowledge for Operational Meteorologists.

SKILL 1: IDENTIFY SURFACE FEATURES

Learn how to:

discriminate between land and areas of water like oceans, seas, lakes, rivers or inlets
distinguish between natural and human modified areas
identify vegetation free areas as well as how to identify different types of desert surface
identify areas of drought and heatwaves
identify hotspots
recognize burnt areas
recognize areas of flooding
detect areas covered with snow, ice or cloudy areas

SKILL 2: IDENTIFY CLOUD TYPES AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

Identify:

stratiform, cumuliform and cirriform cloud regions and individual cloud forms and their characteristic
cumulonimbus and their characteristic
fogs and discriminate between fog and low cloud
contrails and ship trails
deduce cloud top heights based on brightness temperatures, surface observations and sounding data
clouds made of water droplets, ice particles or a mixture and discriminate between clouds with small or large cloud particles

SKILL 4: IDENTIFY AND INTERPRET ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA

Identify and locate:

dust, sand storms, plumes and areas of raised dust
fires and smoke
moisture features, precipitation types and amounts
volcanic ash particulates, Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) and other chemical emissions
aerosol and particulate pollution
features indicating regions of clear air turbulence