 Let's use these side-by-side visible and infrared images to see how weather forecasters use both types of images to diagnose cloud types. Even though these images look pretty similar at first glance, they're displaying very different things. Visible satellite imagery is most like what we see with our eyes. It's based on the amount of visible light that gets reflected back to the satellite. But it's critical to realize that infrared imagery is different. It's showing us temperature, either of cloud tops or the Earth's surface. Note that even though no temperature scale is shown on the infrared image, brighter shades of gray and white correspond to lower temperatures, as is typically the case. Let's start by looking at point A, which is located in the line of bright white clouds extending from the Outer Banks North Carolina down into Florida. Their brightness on visible imagery indicates that these are thick clouds. These clouds also appear bright on infrared imagery. So they have cold tops, indicating that the tops are high in the troposphere. Thus, given that these clouds are thick and have cold tops, we can assume that they are cumulonimbus, which can have tops reaching altitudes upwards of 60,000 feet. Now let's look at point B, located in the area of feathery clouds over the Atlantic. Obviously, these feathery clouds are not as bright as the area of cumulonimbus on visible imagery, which means the clouds at point B are much thinner. On the infrared image, these clouds appear bright white, meaning that they have cold tops, which are high in the troposphere. Therefore, they must be cirrus clouds, which are high and thin. I should add the caveat that sometimes when clouds have very thin spots, infrared radiation from the Earth's surface can leak through holes in the clouds and reach the satellite. That bit of extra radiation from the warm Earth can make the tops of very thin clouds appear a little warmer and lower than they really are. Finally, let's turn our attention to point C, which is located in the region of clouds over the Great Lakes and Upper Ohio Valley. The darker grayish appearance on infrared imagery tells us that they're low clouds with warm tops. These clouds are fairly bright on visible image, meaning they must be moderately thick. Given the somewhat cellular nature and breaks in between blobs of clouds, these are likely stratocumulus clouds, although farther north than the Great Lakes, there's likely a more solid deck of stratus. The lesson learned here is that both visible and infrared imagery can be used together to identify cloud types during the daytime.