Infrared Imaging

We have seen in the preceding sections examples of imaging the Earth in the infrared, ultraviolet, and X-ray regions of the spectrum. Here we show additional examples of IR images.The left figure shows the San Francisco Bay area imaged from space in the infrared (IR). Click on the image for a larger version revealing quite fine details such as bridges and highways (Ref).

The right image shows a GOES-8 weather satellite image in the 6.7 micron IR channel that is sensitive to the distribution of water vapor in Earth's atmosphere (Ref). The multichannel imager on this satellite records radiation emitted by water vapor in the upper troposphere. Regions with high concentrations of water vapor are bright, while dark spots signal lower water vapor concentrations.