The blog of a dedicated radio amateur and electronics enthusiast

"Having fun on the air and in the workshop - communicating and creating"
Showing posts with label NOAA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NOAA. Show all posts

20 April 2010

Iceland's volcanic plume



The plume of volcanic ash belching from the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano, ( 1666m ), in the Katla range is visible from space. It can just be seen on an image I received yesterday, 19th April at 1215gmt, from the NOAA 19 weather satellite on 137.10MHz.
At first I had almost overlooked it, believing, because of the enormous publicity the eruption had attracted, that from the satellite's viewpoint most of western Europe would be hidden from view under the ash cloud. A further series of images captured today from NOAA 15, 18 & 19 confirm the continued presence of the plume, but show it to be diminishing.
I shall be following the progress of the ash plume/cloud from space and post additional pictures if they are more distinctive.
Iceland is at the limit of my range from here for clear satellite reception; the satellite being only just above my horizon as Iceland comes into view !

16 April 2010

Sat pic gallery





Today's images in the visible light band which I received "off-air" from the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, ( NOAA ), low earth orbiting weather satellites, NOAA18 & NOAA19, automatic picture transmission, ( APT ), weather facsimilie, ( WEFAX ), service.

From top to bottom:-
NOAA19, 1104gmt, downlink 137.10MHz
NOAA18, 1141gmt, downlink 137.9125MHz
NOAA19, 1246gmt, downlink 137.10MHz
NOAA18, 1323gmt, downlink 137.9125MHz

There is still some sea-ice to be seen at the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia.
If you look carefully you may see a red cross which gives away the position of my ground station.

15 April 2010

The changing seasons


It is interesting to follow the seasonal changes on earth from the images which I receive directly from weather satellites. The last time on 26th January, ( see post ), showed Europe from Germany eastwards under ice and snow. The images which I captured today tell a very different story.
The infra-red image I have chosen to post here was derived from the heat detected by the infra-red sensor onboard satellite NOAA18, and transmitted on 137.9125MHz at 1151gmt. Darker shades, ( black, brown, green ), represent warmer areas than lighter shades, ( blue, white ). Many Baltic countries had a fine, warm day today. I was outdoors making the most of it !