The satellite data summaries presented here were constructed during the field phase of TOGA COARE at the Honiara Operations Center to aid in daily briefings and flight planning. The summaries were derived from infrared images of the Japanese Geosynchronous Meteorological Satellite (GMS). They include a time-size series of the distribution of contiguous cold cloudiness areas, weekly percent high cloudiness (PHC) maps, and a time-longitude plot illustrating the zonal motion of large areas of cold cloudiness. The GMS images were received at the Honiara Operations Center via the Bureau of Meteorology of Australia.
These TOGA COARE satellite data summaries are the result of collaboration among Shuyi Chen (University of Washington), Robert Houze (University of Washington), and Brian Mapes (University of Colorado).