earth · one frame a day from orbit
Cloud tops
The temperature at the top of clouds, which stands in for their height: the colder the top, the taller the cloud.
What it shows
The temperature at the top of clouds, which stands in for their height: the colder the top, the taller the cloud. Severe thunderstorms show up as very cold tops. It is measured from orbit everywhere, including oceans and regions without radar.
Where the data comes from
NASA EOSDIS GIBS: MODIS Terra and Aqua cloud top temperature (daytime); daily at about 5 km.
Reading the map
Warm, low tops (+10 °C) are dark grey and fade into the background; colder tops turn yellow (-45 °C), orange, red (-70 °C) and purple at -85 °C, the storm tops at the tropopause.
Units Degrees Celsius.
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