Fog Monitor

Introduction

Because of the considerable distance between weather observation stations, important weather phenomena can be present without being reported. Observation platforms are much more sparse over the oceans, resulting in more weather hazards being unreported, and thus unknown. Fog is one of those hazards. However, research in satellite meteorology has shown that satellite imagery can be useful in detecting fog in the large areas where there are no observation platforms. The Fog Monitor is an AWIPS decision assistance tool engineered to continuously monitor satellite imagery for fog. It automatically alerts the WFO when probable fog is detected.

The Fog Monitor provides a satellite-image-like display with pixels colored to indicate whether the location is probably fog-free, maybe fog-covered, or probably fog-covered. The Fog Monitor also provides the WFO the ability to customize the thresholds used to recognize and distinguish fog. This facilitates research by the WFO and allows to WFO to adapt the Fog Monitor to the season and to its local conditions.