The Visible (Day)/IR (night) with lightning satellite product is a combination of visible imagery from reflected sunlight during the daytime, and of various portions of the IR spectrum during nighttime periods (similar to NOAA’s GeoColor mode). When present, lighting flash extent density is overlaid in colors ranging from green (low density) to red (highest density). During the daytime true-color images are obtained using Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) portions of visible light. At night, since reflected sunlight is not present, IR light emanating from the Earth to space can be used to detect different cloud types and even low-level fog. The type and amount of IR light detected is converted into RGB colors for viewing.

In this nighttime mode, the colors are controlled primarily by cloud thickness, the cloud-top temperature, and cloud-top temperature difference between different portions of the IR spectrum.

Low altitude (warmer) clouds/fog appear blue.

High altitude (colder) thinner cirrus clouds appear gray to white.

More information about this product can be found here or here.