A number of features appear differently on IR and visible based OCTANE products this afternoon. First, the divergence of cloud top motion really stand out on the IR products, especially on the southwest storm in SJT’s CWA. The dark blues on the upshear side as well as the contrast of the red and green directional colors really appear well on the IR. In comparison, the visible based OCTANE speed product still shows shows the upshear values with the divergence signal, though it is a bit more subtle than IR. However the visible product allows us to see other features, like the above anvil cirrus plume on the southwest storm. In the cluster of storms to the northeast where this kind of feature isn’t visible, the visible OCTANE product still shows the strong cloud top divergence. OCTANE direction from IR shows divergence aloft a bit better than the visible product, though the difference isn’t huge. Finally, the color table adjustments done today to the Octane Speed IR product really help make the divergence stand out. Cloud top divergence in these products has been pretty well correlated with thunderstorm severity, so the IR based product seems like it would be very useful, especially at night.

-Joaq