RGB Color Guide

Deep convective clouds with strong updraft – severe convective clouds – often appear light blue in Cloud Phase RGB. The reason is that…

Thick ice clouds covered by large ice crystals appear medium blue in Cloud Phase RGB.

Dust clouds usually appear tan in VIIRS Cloud Phase RGB. Dust clouds are usually semi-transparent. Its actual colour shade depends both…

Sunglints appear blurred yellowish grey in VIIRS Cloud Phase RGB.

Open water bodies (outside the sunglint region) usually appears black in VIIRS Cloud Phase RGB. In some special conditions it might…

Sandy desert appears yellow in Cloud Phase RGB. Rocky deserts appear yellow with brownish or reddish shades, or grey.

Vegetated land appears brown in the Cloud Phase RGB. The shade of brown depends on the vegetation type and the green vegetation fraction…

Bare soils and deserts usually appear brown or tan in the VIIRS True Colour RGB images.

Volcanic ash clouds usually appear brownish or tan in the VIIRS True Colour RGB images.

Biomass smoke plumes usually appear bluish grey or grey in the VIIRS True Colour RGB images. The smoke of an oil fire is black.

Dust clouds appear brownish grey or grey in the VIIRS True Colour RGB images.

Snow, ice appears whitish in the VIIRS True Colour RGB images.

Water rich in suspended matter or shallow with sediments on its bottom appears greenish or blueish cyan in the VIIRS True Colour RGB…

Deep, clean water bodies - most parts of oceans and seas – usually appear dark blue, almost black in the VIIRS True Colour RGB images,…

Thin clouds appear grey in the VIIRS True Colour RGB images. Very thin ice clouds are not seen.

Thick opaque clouds appear white in the VIIRS True Colour RGB images.

Thick fog or low clouds consisting of large droplets appear pinkish grey in the Night Microphysics RGB.

Thick fog or low clouds consisting of small droplets appear light green in the Night Microphysics RGB.

Thin fog or low clouds over land appear pinkish grey in the Night Microphysics RGB.

Thin fog or low clouds over sea appear greyish blue or medium blue in the Night Microphysics RGB.

In the Night Microphysics RGB, warm thin dust clouds over a cold surface appear cyan.

Sunglint appears yellow in the AVHRR Cloud RGB images.

Sandy desert appears greenish yellow in the AVHRR Cloud RGB images.

Thin high-level clouds appear bluish in the AVHRR Cloud RGB images.

Open water surfaces appear dark blue in the AVHRR Cloud RGB images.

Fresh, cold, continuous snow appears yellow in the AVHRR Cloud RGB images.

High-level, thick ice clouds with large particles on the cloud top appear red-orange in the MetOp AVHRR Day Microphysics RGB images.

High-level, thick ice clouds with large particles on the cloud top appear red-orange in the MetOp AVHRR Day Microphysics RGB images.

In the Dust RGB, cold sandy desert depicts in yellow colours.

In the Dust RGB, sandy hot desert depicts in pale cyan colours.

In the Day Microphysics RGB, large ice particles depicts in red colours.

In the HRV Cloud RGB, mid-level clouds depict in white.

In the Airmass RGB, the limb cooling effect depicts in blue colour.

Snow free, non deserted, vegetated land usually appears greenish or slightly brownish in the Snow RGB. Bare soil may appear bluish.

Thick ice clouds appear brown in the Ash RGB images.

Sandy desert appears cyan in the Ash RGB images: aqua-cyan when the surface is hot, or greenish cyan (aquamarine) when the surface…

Pure volcanic sulphur dioxide gas plume appears typically (light) green in the Ash RGB images.

Thin, pure volcanic ash cloud appears typically red or magenta in the Ash RGB images.

Mixed volcanic ash and sulphur dioxide gas plumes appear yellow in the Ash RGB images.

Non-desert, snow free land usually appears reddish brown in the HRV Fog RGB images. 

Semitransparent ice clouds appear greyish in the HRV Fog RGB images (with cyan tones).

Thick ice clouds usually appear cyan in the HRV Fog RGB images.

Fog and water clouds appear light pink in the HRV Fog RGB images.

Snow appears cyan in the HRV Fog RGB images.

Sea, lakes and rivers (open water surfaces) appears black in the HRV Fog RGB images.

Very thin cirrus clouds over sea are pale blue in the Snow RGB images.

Semitransparent ice clouds can be shown in several colours in the Snow RGB images: from orange, yellowish to pale blue colours. 

Fog, water clouds with large droplets on the cloud top appear light yellow with some greenish tones in the Snow RGB images.

Fog, low stratus and water clouds with small droplets on the cloud top appear white in the Snow RGB images. 

Thick ice clouds usually appear orange in the Snow RGB images. Thick ice clouds with small ice crystals on the top appear light orange,…

Sandy desert appears light blue in the Snow RGB, in some areas with greenish shades. Rocky desert appears medium blue.

Sea, lakes and rivers (open water surfaces) appears dark blue in the Snow RGB images.

Snow appears red-orange in the Snow RGB images.

Mid-level water clouds are depicted in greyish colours in the Severe Storms RGB images.

Dust polluted ice clouds usually depict yellow in the Severe Storms RGB, because their tops consist of small ice crystals due to the…

The thick part of the high level lee cloudiness usually shows up in bright yellow colours, while the thin part depicts in pink.

Sandy desert appears cyan in the Day Microphysics RGB images.

Water covered areas appear blue in the Day Microphysics RGB images.

High ice clouds appear white in the Cloud RGB images.

Snow covered areas appear magenta in the Day Microphysics RGB images.

Low level water clouds or fogs are yellowish/ochre in the Cloud RGB images.

Water surfaces are depicted in black in the Natural Colour RGB images.

Water clouds are whitish in the Natural Colour RGB images.

Stratiform cirrus clouds are depicted in cyan colour in the Natural Colour RGB images.

Cumuliform cirrus clouds are depicted in cyan colour in the Natural Colour RGB images.

In the Natural Colour RGB images the snow covered area appears cyan or bright blue.

In the Natural Colour RGB, sea ice depicts in cyan, deep cyan or pale blue colours.

In the Night Microphysics RGB, mid-level clouds depict in pink colours.

In the Night Microphysics RGB, cloud free land and sea depict in magenta colours.

In the Night Microphysics RGB, high cirrus clouds depict in black.

In the Night Microphysics RGB, low water clouds depict in pastel green colours.

In the Night Microphysics RGB, high reaching opaque clouds depict in red colours.

In the Day Microphysics RGB, deserts depict in cyan colours.

Low level water clouds over water surfaces are light bluish, although often hardly recognisable in the Severe Storms RGB images.

Land surfaces are depicted in medium blue or violet colours in the Severe Storms RGB.

Water surfaces are depicted in dark blue or violet colours in the Severe Storms RGB.

In the Airmass RGB, polar airmasses depict in blue colours.

In the Airmass RGB, white tones depict high reaching opaque clouds.

Frontal cloud bands and deep convective clouds without strong updraft are typically shown in red tones in the Severe Storms RGB images…

Developing, active thunderstorms with strong updraft have bright yellow colours on its top.

Semitransparent ice clouds are typically pink in the Severe Storms RGB images.

In the Day Microphysics RGB, semitransparent clouds depict in green colours.

In the Day Microphysics RGB, mid-level clouds depict in pastel red colours.

In the Day Microphysics RGB, low water clouds depict in pastel green colours.

In the Day Microphysics RGB, vegetated land depicts in blue colours.

In the Day Microphysics RGB, water surfaces depict in blue colours.

In the Day Microphysics RGB, small ice particles depicts in orange colours.

In the Day Microphysics RGB, snow and ice on the ground depicts in magenta colours.

In the Dust RGB, mid-level water clouds depict in green colours.

In the HRV Cloud RGB, snow and ice on the ground depict in yellow colours.

In the Dust RGB, low water clouds depict in pink colours.

In the HRV Cloud RGB, oceans, lakes and rivers depict in dark blue.

In the HRV Cloud RGB, land depicts in olive-green colours.

In the HRV Cloud RGB, high reaching opaque clouds depict in blue colours.

In the HRV Cloud RGB, thin cirrus clouds depict in blue colours.

In the HRV Cloud RGB, low level clouds depict in yellow colours.

In the Dust RGB, mid-level clouds depict in ocher colours.

In the Dust RGB, cloud free land surfaces depict in pink colours.

In the Dust RGB, cloud free land depicts in summer in blue colours.

In the Dust RGB, high reaching opaque clouds depict in red colours.

In the Dust RGB, cirrus clouds depict in black colours.

In the Airmass RGB, tropical air masses with low upper level humidity depict in olive colours.

In the Airmass RGB, tropical humid air masses depict in green colours.

In the Dust RGB, sand storms depict in magenta colours.

In the Natural Colour RGB, dried-up salt lakes depict in cyan colour.

In the Airmass RGB, red colour marks the presence of dry air masses.

In the Natural Colour RGB, water clouds are depricted in white. Very low water clouds turn into red and when ice appears on the top of…

In the Natural Colour RGB, the red colour over land depricts bare soil or sand.

In the Natural Colour RGB, the green colour over land depicts vegetation cover.

In the Airmass RGB, very cold land depicts in green colour.

In the Natural Colour RGB, oceans and lakes depict in black colour.

In the Natural Colour RGB, ice clouds depict in cyan colour.

In the Natural Colour RGB, snow and ice on the earth surface depict in cyan colour.