Worldwide Infrared Satellite Loop
Live • rolling animation, global coverage
Infrared (IR) satellite imagery shows clouds by temperature rather than reflected light. Weather satellites carrying scanning radiometers produce these thermal images, letting a trained eye judge cloud height and type, work out land and sea surface temperatures, and spot ocean surface features — all day and all night, since it doesn't rely on sunlight. This widens the view out from Europe to the whole globe, stitching together imagery from the ring of geostationary satellites that between them cover almost every part of the Earth.
Global satellite overlay • drag to pan, scroll to zoom, use the timeline to animate
See also: SAT24 UK & Europe Satellite (background on how weather satellites work) • European Infrared Loop • Day & Night Loop