Storm cloud west of Rome captured by EarthCARE

ESA’s EarthCARE satellite was launched on 29 May 2024. It has already returned images from its cloud profiling radar and from its broadband radiometer. Now, it has also delivered the first images from its multispectral imager, showcasing various types of clouds and cloud temperatures worldwide. This instrument is set to add valuable context to the data from EarthCARE’s other instruments.

The multispectral imager comprises two cameras: one imaging in the visible, near-infrared and shortwave-infrared (VIS-NIR-SWIR) parts of the of the electromagnetic spectrum and one in the thermal-infrared (TIR). Images captured with these different spectral bands will allow scientists to differentiate between various cloud types, aerosols and Earth’s surface.

This image shows a thunderstorm north of Naples in Italy on 17 July. The true-colour part of the image on the left shows a very clear large single cloud. This storm cloud is likely to have been 11 km high. The right part of the image, which uses the instrument’s thermal-infrared band, shows that the top of this storm cloud was about –50°C, and that the land below was about 30°C. The thermal-infrared part also picks out the surrounding lower clouds, particularly over the Adriatic Sea, much better than the true-colour image.

Read full story: EarthCARE’s multispectral imager puts clouds into context