Full-moon scene over the alpine region and Italy

Download full resolution image

Rendered by the Day-Night Band (DNB at 750m spatial resolution) of VIIRS on-board Suomi-NPP the winter full moon is lighting the alpine region and parts of Italy. The image is slightly enhanced by a semi-transparent difference between VIIRS bands IR10.763 and IR3.7 (M15-M12 at 750m spatial resolution). In this composite light sources, high cloud and snow appear in white to grey shades, whereas low cloud or fog are vaguely yellow in colour. The full-resolution image reveals many details, of which only a couple are mentioned here.

Broken high cloud cover the northern parts of the Austrian Alps. To the west mottled greyish areas show broken snow cover, e.g. over Bavaria, the Black Forest and the Swiss Jura. Low cloud (yellow) lies over the Franche-Comté in the extreme west and the Ligurian coast in Italy. Tiny patches of valley fog (yellow), can be identified in several valley systems, in particular over Tuscany in Italy and the Swiss northern lowlands.

 

Figure 1: Anomalous bright pixel in a remote pre-alpine area in central Switzerland

 

In figure 1 an isolated, very bright pixel (brighter than the brightest city lights in the scene) can be seen (highlighted by the red arrow) in the middle of a remote pre-alpine area in central Switzerland. The following KMZ file may help to locate the pixel. Is it a specular reflection from some unidentified reflective object or light source, or is it a measurement problem? The two cyan arrows on the same image help to identify valley fog.