Characteristics of E/W stripes in infrared images from the GOES-8 imager

East-west stripes are observed in images in channels 4 (10.7 micrometers ) and 5 (12 micrometers ) of the GOES-8 imager. These channels use two detectors arranged in a north-south array to sweep out alternate lines of an image. The stripes are caused by differences in the outputs of the two detectors. There is a clear correlation between scene temperature and the magnitude of the striping. Measured in temperature units, the striping is more severe at the cold end of the spectrum, and therefore affects meteorological products which depend on observations of cold targets. The striping can be divided into three components: 1) within-frame random, 2) systematic within-frame but random from frame-to-frame, and 3) systematic over many frames. The first two components are caused by 1/f noise during data-taking and calibrations. The cause of the third component of the striping is not known. Examples of each striping element are presented and discussed. A brief comparison of GOES-8 and GOES-9 imager striping is made.