Water Vapor Imagery | NESDIS | National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
Source: https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/imagery/interactive-maps/water-vapor-imagery
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:14
Water Vapor Imagery | NESDIS | National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
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Water Vapor Imagery
The 7.3 µm “Lower-level water vapor” band typically senses farthest down into the mid-troposphere in cloud-free regions. It is used to track lower tropospheric winds, identify jet streaks, monitor severe weather potential, estimate lower-level moisture, identify regions where the potential for turbulence exists, highlight volcanic plumes that are rich in sulphur dioxide (SO2) and track Lake Effect snow bands. In this imagery, bright blue and white areas indicate the presence of high water vapor or moisture content, whereas dark orange and brown areas indicate little or no moisture present.
Note to screen-readers: This page is using an IFrame for the content-area, and you screen reader may not be abel to see it on this website.
For screen-reading purposes, please go directly to the IFrame's target page by going to
https://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/NESDIS/site/images/GOES/USlamWVseq.html
.
You can advance the imagery by placing your cursor over the image and using your mouse's scroll wheel, clicking the image and using the up and down arrows on your keyboard, or by clicking and dragging the scroll bar down (to go forward) or up (to go back). To save a particular image, scroll through the animation to the frame you want and right-click.
Skip to main content
Official websites use .gov
A
.gov
website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A
lock
(
) or
https://
means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Water Vapor Imagery
The 7.3 µm “Lower-level water vapor” band typically senses farthest down into the mid-troposphere in cloud-free regions. It is used to track lower tropospheric winds, identify jet streaks, monitor severe weather potential, estimate lower-level moisture, identify regions where the potential for turbulence exists, highlight volcanic plumes that are rich in sulphur dioxide (SO2) and track Lake Effect snow bands. In this imagery, bright blue and white areas indicate the presence of high water vapor or moisture content, whereas dark orange and brown areas indicate little or no moisture present.
Note to screen-readers: This page is using an IFrame for the content-area, and you screen reader may not be abel to see it on this website.
For screen-reading purposes, please go directly to the IFrame's target page by going to
https://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/NESDIS/site/images/GOES/USlamWVseq.html
.
You can advance the imagery by placing your cursor over the image and using your mouse's scroll wheel, clicking the image and using the up and down arrows on your keyboard, or by clicking and dragging the scroll bar down (to go forward) or up (to go back). To save a particular image, scroll through the animation to the frame you want and right-click.