TdM > MSC Data > Satellite Observations > Satellite Observations on the MSC Datamart
Satellite data and products
This page describes data and products derived from GOES-West and GOES-East satellite instruments in GeoTIFF format available on the MSC Datamart.
These products are derived from RGB (red/green/blue) images, a satellite processing technique that uses a combination of satellite sensor bands (also called channels) and applies a red/green/blue (RGB) filter to each of them. The result is a false-color image, i.e. an image that does not correspond to what the human eye would see, but offers high contrast between different cloud types and surface features. The on-board sensor of a weather satellite obtains two basic types of information: visible light data (reflected light) reflecting off clouds and different surface types, also known as "reflectance", and infrared data (emitted radiation) which are long-wave radiations emitted by clouds and surface features. RGBs are specially designed to combine this type of satellite data, resulting in an information-rich final product.
Four types of products are currently generated from the GOES-West and GOES-East satellites: "NightIR" and "NightMicrophysics", at 2km resolution, are generated 24 hours a day with infrared channels, so are visible both night and day, and "NaturalColour" and "DayCloudConvection", at 1km resolution, which combine visible light channels with infrared channels; their higher resolution makes the latter two products more popular, but they are not available during most of the night (between 02UTC and 07UTC for GOES-Est, and between 06UTC and 11UTC for GOES-Ouest) given the absence of reflected sunlight. Other RGB products should be added gradually in the future to meet different needs.
Data location
MSC Datamart data can be automatically retrieved with the Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) as soon as it becomes available. An overview and examples of how to access and use Meteorological Service of Canada open data](../../usage/readme_en.md) is also available.
The data is available via the HTTPS protocol. It can be accessed using a standard browser. In this case, a list of links to a GeoTIFF file is displayed.
GOES-R series products can be found at :
where :
- HH: Time in UTC of image validity [00, 01, .., 23]
A 54-hour history of data is stored in each directory.
File name nomenclature
File names follow the nomenclature below:
{YYYYMMDD}T{HHmm}Z_MSC_{GOES-Sat}_{Product}_{resolution}.tif
where :
- YYYYMMDD: Year, month and day of image validity
- T: Time delimiter according to ISO8601 standards
- HHmm: Hour and minute in UTC of image validity time [00, 01, 02, ...., 22, 23]
- Z: Time zone (UTC time)
- MSC: Constant string for Meteorological Service of Canada, the data source
- GOES-Sat : String indicating that data are derived from GOES satellites [GOES-East, GOES-West]
- Product: String indicating the type of satellite product generated [NaturalColor, DayVis, NighIR, NightMicrophysics]
- resolution : Horizontal resolution of data [1km, 2km]
- tif : Constant string indicating that the format is GeoTIFF
Examples:
- 20231109T0800Z_MSC_GOES-East_NaturalColor_1km.tif
- 20231109T0510Z_MSC_GOES-West_NightMicrophysics_2km.tif
Support
If you have any questions about these data, please contact us.
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