ERTS-1 study of mesoscale atmospheric phenomena associated with Great Lake

Lyons, W. A.

Pease, S. R.

English

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ERTS-1 VIEWS THE GREAT LAKES AREA 
Walter A Lyocls and Steven R. Pease. G-l/qx of E m - m i n g  ard Apprkd Scimz, 
( h h r s i i t y  of b7iscvnsin--Mililn~ukee, Milwaukee, Wistwnsin 53201 
ABSTRACT 
WPh the Iaunchin~ of Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-I) in July 19-1, a powerful m 
tad for studling mewsak atnlospkric phenomena associated with tk Great L a k  -ros come on the xene. 
It hrr btm f d  poszibk to dhximinate air poUution patterns from hip sources of suspended partic- 
dates. Plumes from n n p  s t ~ i  miU operatiom in the --Hammond area a n  be seen spreading in 
southwest flow over Lake Mi:higan fa over 50 nm. The excellent background provided by water in the near 
infrared makes for optimam t-ieu-ing. Convmely , OIET land m n  rtry depsc smoke plumes Wi difficult 
to distb@& from tenain. 
Compariroa d a m e  area viewed at different portions of the spectrum allows the detection and identi- 
froth of cirriform clouds. A! &cuter nwclengths (054.6 micrometen) cirrostratus layers mi&t appear a 
total undercast. Yet in the m i  infnred (03-1 -1) almost coq ie t e  penetration to the undertying features is 
found Denser douds. such as dtocumulus. stratus, armulcs, etc., do nor exhibit this characteristic at all. 
In a siRliLr mrmwr, -of the Toronto area unler c)ornlkrs but haq conditions. rcroal the marked 
haze penetrating characteristics o; the near infrad. Reconstructed color infrared views (made by c o m b  
tion of the three longer wuveler.gth bancts) reveal sharp ground features a l m t  totdly obscured by haze and 
pollutants in :he "green" band (0.5-0.6 &ome:crs). 
SGQW awec is readily apparent in ERTS images. A localized record early season (October 18) lake 
mow squall in the south-chica~ and Hammond, Iadirna reejcm produced a well defined path through the 
metropolitan Chicago uc . Thnu& depth d e t e h t i o a  is difficul? (maximum 4" in this case), such images 
can dearly reveal frert3) depusited lake snow squall swaths as soon as the skies clear. 
Aircraft condensation trails also appear in d w-phs ,  including one with a peculiar circular 
*pe- 
Summer lake phenomena, such as lake breeze fronts are ideally studied. Even the anallert cumulus 
elements are resolved. During an all-shore lake breeze ovtf Lakes Frie and Ontario, the doud-free zcne ex- 
tended almost uniformly inland around the perimeter of the hkes. Smaller Lakes and rc~rroiro also show 
marked doud suppression. Cloud streets on downwind s!!orelines show great similarity to laboratory 
studies of cdd fluids adwctingove!r heated plates, including Benard cell type patternu. 
Several sets of simultaneous views of cfoud patterns from ERTS and all+ky cloud cameras are compared. 
'ihest are helpful in showing the extremeljr high resolution of the satellite, as WU as the horizonml viewing 
range with the lens filter combination used. 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19730008753 2020-03-17T08:00:22+00:00Z


ERTS-1 Views the Great Lakes Area

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