NOAA-10 AVHRR thermal-infrared image of the Colorado Rocky Mountains

This month we demonstrate an example of the use of thermal infrared imagery to produce a relatively sharp surrogate shaded-relief image. The image shows one aspect of the drama and usefulness of calibrated thermal imagery that (because of compatible projection and pixel size) can be easily combined with other spectral bands of a satellite image. Such data can be enhanced in yet another way by stereoscopically combining two similar images with different orbital paths, such as was shown in the AVHRR column for January 1988.