|
|
Browse All
:
Images of Alabama and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
|
Printer Friendly |
The Trifid Nebula: Stellar S
…
| Title |
The Trifid Nebula: Stellar Sibling Rivalry |
|
Urban Modifications of Rainf
…
| Title |
Urban Modifications of Rainfall, Alabama and Georgia |
| Abstract |
Using the world's first space-based rain radar aboard NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, NASA scientists found that mean monthly rainfall rates within 30-60 kilometers (18 to 36 miles) downwind of some cities were, on average, about 28 percent greater than the upwind region. In some cities, the downwind area exhibited increases as high as 51 percent. |
| Completed |
2002-06-14 |
|
TRMM Looks at the Rain Fueli
…
| Title |
TRMM Looks at the Rain Fueling Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 |
| Abstract |
NASA's TRMM spacecraft is used by meteorologists to understand Hurricane Ivan. TRMM snapped this view of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 just before the storm strikes land. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR). It looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and Red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour. High vertical bands on the outside of the storm indicated that Hurricane Ivan was very likely to spawn tornados in Florida and Georgia. |
| Completed |
2004-09-15 |
|
TRMM Looks at the Rain Fueli
…
| Title |
TRMM Looks at the Rain Fueling Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 |
| Abstract |
NASA's TRMM spacecraft is used by meteorologists to understand Hurricane Ivan. TRMM snapped this view of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 just before the storm strikes land. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR). It looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and Red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour. High vertical bands on the outside of the storm indicated that Hurricane Ivan was very likely to spawn tornados in Florida and Georgia. |
| Completed |
2004-09-15 |
|
TRMM Looks at the Rain Fueli
…
| Title |
TRMM Looks at the Rain Fueling Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 |
| Abstract |
NASA's TRMM spacecraft is used by meteorologists to understand Hurricane Ivan. TRMM snapped this view of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 just before the storm strikes land. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR). It looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and Red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour. High vertical bands on the outside of the storm indicated that Hurricane Ivan was very likely to spawn tornados in Florida and Georgia. |
| Completed |
2004-09-15 |
|
TRMM Looks at the Rain Fueli
…
| Title |
TRMM Looks at the Rain Fueling Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 |
| Abstract |
NASA's TRMM spacecraft is used by meteorologists to understand Hurricane Ivan. TRMM snapped this view of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 just before the storm strikes land. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR). It looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and Red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour. High vertical bands on the outside of the storm indicated that Hurricane Ivan was very likely to spawn tornados in Florida and Georgia. |
| Completed |
2004-09-15 |
|
TRMM Looks at the Rain Fueli
…
| Title |
TRMM Looks at the Rain Fueling Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 |
| Abstract |
NASA's TRMM spacecraft is used by meteorologists to understand Hurricane Ivan. TRMM snapped this view of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 just before the storm strikes land. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR). It looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and Red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour. High vertical bands on the outside of the storm indicated that Hurricane Ivan was very likely to spawn tornados in Florida and Georgia. |
| Completed |
2004-09-15 |
|
Hurricane Ivan Rain Accumula
…
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan Rain Accumulation September 2-19, 2004 (wide view) |
| Abstract |
This animation shows rain accumulation between Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Ivan. The green path is the path Hurricane Frances took between August 25, 2004, and September 9, 2004. The red path is Hurricane Ivan from September 2, 2004, to September 19, 2004. |
| Completed |
2004-09-16 |
|
Hurricane Ivan Rain Accumula
…
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan Rain Accumulation September 2-19, 2004 (wide view) |
| Abstract |
This animation shows rain accumulation between Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Ivan. The green path is the path Hurricane Frances took between August 25, 2004, and September 9, 2004. The red path is Hurricane Ivan from September 2, 2004, to September 19, 2004. |
| Completed |
2004-09-16 |
|
fvGCM Climate Model and Hurr
…
| Title |
fvGCM Climate Model and Hurricane Ivan Track |
| Abstract |
This animation shows the track of hurricane Ivan, in yellow, and a track in green showing the path of Ivan as predicted by the fvGCM model. The animation follows Ivan from far out in the eastern Atlantic, all the way to land fall in southern Alabama. The white cloud-like features show the cloud cover and total moisture calculated by the model and help to illustrate wind motion. |
| Completed |
2004-11-10 |
|
fvGCM Climate Model and Hurr
…
| Title |
fvGCM Climate Model and Hurricane Ivan Track |
| Abstract |
This animation shows the track of hurricane Ivan, in yellow, and a track in green showing the path of Ivan as predicted by the fvGCM model. The animation follows Ivan from far out in the eastern Atlantic, all the way to land fall in southern Alabama. The white cloud-like features show the cloud cover and total moisture calculated by the model and help to illustrate wind motion. |
| Completed |
2004-11-10 |
|
fvGCM Climate Model and Hurr
…
| Title |
fvGCM Climate Model and Hurricane Ivan Track |
| Abstract |
This animation shows the track of hurricane Ivan, in yellow, and a track in green showing the path of Ivan as predicted by the fvGCM model. The animation follows Ivan from far out in the eastern Atlantic, all the way to land fall in southern Alabama. The white cloud-like features show the cloud cover and total moisture calculated by the model and help to illustrate wind motion. |
| Completed |
2004-11-10 |
|
A Fixed View of Hurricane Iv
…
| Title |
A Fixed View of Hurricane Ivan |
| Abstract |
Showing the progression of Hurricane Ivan, with the help of both Terra and Aqua satellites. |
| Completed |
2004-09-16 |
|
Hurricane Ivan Rainfall Stru
…
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan Rainfall Structure seen by TRMM on September 16, 2004 |
| Abstract |
NASA's TRMM spacecraft is used by meteorologists to understand Hurricane Ivan. TRMM snapped this view of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004, just before the storm strikes land. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Tropical Microwave Imager (TMI). It looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour. |
| Completed |
2004-09-16 |
|
Hurricane Ivan Rainfall Stru
…
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan Rainfall Structure seen by TRMM on September 16, 2004 |
| Abstract |
NASA's TRMM spacecraft is used by meteorologists to understand Hurricane Ivan. TRMM snapped this view of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004, just before the storm strikes land. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Tropical Microwave Imager (TMI). It looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour. |
| Completed |
2004-09-16 |
|
Hurricane Ivan Rainfall Stru
…
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan Rainfall Structure seen by TRMM on September 16, 2004 |
| Abstract |
NASA's TRMM spacecraft is used by meteorologists to understand Hurricane Ivan. TRMM snapped this view of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004, just before the storm strikes land. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Tropical Microwave Imager (TMI). It looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour. |
| Completed |
2004-09-16 |
|
Hurricane Ivan Rainfall Stru
…
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan Rainfall Structure seen by TRMM on September 16, 2004 |
| Abstract |
NASA's TRMM spacecraft is used by meteorologists to understand Hurricane Ivan. TRMM snapped this view of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004, just before the storm strikes land. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Tropical Microwave Imager (TMI). It looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour. |
| Completed |
2004-09-16 |
|
Hurricane Ivan Rainfall Stru
…
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan Rainfall Structure seen by TRMM on September 16, 2004 |
| Abstract |
NASA's TRMM spacecraft is used by meteorologists to understand Hurricane Ivan. TRMM snapped this view of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004, just before the storm strikes land. The cloud cover is taken by TRMM's Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). The rain structure is taken by TRMM's Tropical Microwave Imager (TMI). It looks underneath of the storm's clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour. |
| Completed |
2004-09-16 |
|
NASA Studies Lightning Storm
…
| Name of Image |
NASA Studies Lightning Storms Using High-Flying, Uninhabited Vehicle |
| Date of Image |
2001-01-01 |
| Full Description |
A NASA team studying the causes of electrical storms and their effects on our home planet achieved a milestone on August 21, 2002, completing the study's longest-duration research flight and monitoring four thunderstorms in succession. Radio news media can talk with Dr. Richard Blakeslee, the project's principal investigator, and Tony Kim, project manager at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), about their results and how their work will help improve future weather forecasting ability. Based at the Naval Air Station Key West, Florida, researchers with the Altus Cumulus Electrification Study (ACES) used the Altus II remotely- piloted aircraft to study a thunderstorm in the Atlantic Ocean off Key West, two storms at the western edge of the Everglades, and a large storm over the northwestern corner of the Everglades. This photograph shows Tony Kim And Dr. Richard Blakeslee of MSFC testing aircraft sensors that would be used to measure the electric fields produced by thunderstorm as part of NASA's ACES. With dual goals of gathering weather data safely and testing the adaptability of the uninhabited aircraft, the ACES study is a collaboration among the MSFC, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Pernsylvania State University in University Park, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. |
|
NASA Studies Lightning Storm
…
| Name of Image |
NASA Studies Lightning Storms Using High-Flying, Uninhabited Vehicle |
| Date of Image |
2002-08-01 |
| Full Description |
A NASA team studying the causes of electrical storms and their effects on our home planet achieved a milestone on August 21, 2002, completing the study's longest-duration research flight and monitoring four thunderstorms in succession. Based at the Naval Air Station Key West, Florida, researchers with the Altus Cumulus Electrification Study (ACES) used the Altus II remotely-piloted aircraft to study thunderstorms in the Atlantic Ocean off Key West and the west of the Everglades. The ACES lightning study used the Altus II twin turbo uninhabited aerial vehicle, built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. of San Diego. The Altus II was chosen for its slow flight speed of 75 to 100 knots (80 to 115 mph), long endurance, and high-altitude flight (up to 65,000 feet). These qualities gave the Altus II the ability to fly near and around thunderstorms for long periods of time, allowing investigations to be to be conducted over the entire life cycle of storms. The vehicle has a wing span of 55 feet and a payload capacity of over 300 lbs. With dual goals of gathering weather data safely and testing the adaptability of the uninhabited aircraft, the ACES study is a collaboration among the Marshall Space Flight Center, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, NASA,s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Pernsylvania State University in University Park, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. |
|
NASA Studies Lightning Storm
…
| Name of Image |
NASA Studies Lightning Storms Using High-Flying, Uninhabited Vehicle |
| Date of Image |
2002-08-01 |
| Full Description |
A NASA team studying the causes of electrical storms and their effects on our home planet achieved a milestone on August 21, 2002, completing the study's longest-duration research flight and monitoring four thunderstorms in succession. Based at the Naval Air Station Key West, Florida, researchers with the Altus Cumulus Electrification Study (ACES) used the Altus II remotely-piloted aircraft to study thunderstorms in the Atlantic Ocean off Key West and the west of the Everglades. Using special equipment aboard the Altus II, scientists in ACES will gather electric, magnetic, and optical measurements of the thunderstorms, gauging elements such as lightning activity and the electrical environment in and around the storms. With dual goals of gathering weather data safely and testing the adaptability of the uninhabited aircraft, the ACES study is a collaboration among the Marshall Space Flight Center, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Pernsylvania State University in University Park, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. |
|
NASA Studies Lightning Storm
…
| Name of Image |
NASA Studies Lightning Storms Using High-Flying, Uninhabited Vehicle |
| Date of Image |
2002-08-01 |
| Full Description |
A NASA team studying the causes of electrical storms and their effects on our home planet achieved a milestone on August 21, 2002, completing the study's longest-duration research flight and monitoring four thunderstorms in succession. Based at the Naval Air Station Key West, Florida, researchers with the Altus Cumulus Electrification Study (ACES) used the Altus II remotely piloted aircraft to study thunderstorms in the Atlantic Ocean off Key West and the west of the Everglades. The ACES lightning study used the Altus II twin turbo uninhabited aerial vehicle, built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. of San Diego. The Altus II was chosen for its slow flight speed of 75 to 100 knots (80 to 115 mph), long endurance, and high-altitude flight (up to 65,000 feet). These qualities gave the Altus II the ability to fly near and around thunderstorms for long periods of time, allowing investigations to be conducted over the entire life cycle of storms. The vehicle has a wing span of 55 feet and a payload capacity of over 300 lbs. With dual goals of gathering weather data safely and testing the adaptability of the uninhabited aircraft, the ACES study is a collaboration among the Marshall Space Flight Center, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Pernsylvania State University in University Park, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. |
|
NASA Studies Lightning Storm
…
| Name of Image |
NASA Studies Lightning Storms Using High-Flying, Uninhabited Vehicle |
| Date of Image |
2002-08-01 |
| Full Description |
A NASA team studying the causes of electrical storms and their effects on our home planet achieved a milestone on August 21, 2002, completing the study's longest-duration research flight and monitoring four thunderstorms in succession. Based at the Naval Air Station Key West, Florida, researchers with the Altus Cumulus Electrification Study (ACES) used the Altus II remotely-piloted aircraft to study thunderstorms in the Atlantic Ocean off Key West and the west of the Everglades. Data obtained through sensors mounted to the aircraft will allow researchers in ACES to gauge elements such as lightning activity and the electrical environment in and around storms. By learning more about individual storms, scientists hope to better understand the global water and energy cycle, as well as climate variability. Contained in one portion of the aircraft is a three-axis magnetic search coil, which measures the AC magnetic field, a three-axis electric field change sensor, an accelerometer, and a three-axis magnetometer, which measures the DC magnetic field. With dual goals of gathering weather data safely and testing the adaptability of the uninhabited aircraft, the ACES study is a collaboration among the Marshall Space Flight Center, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Pernsylvania State University in University Park, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. |
|
Drought in the United States
| Title |
Drought in the United States |
| Description |
May 2007 was a record-setting month in Georgia. Typically a dry month in this southern state, May 2007 was exceptionally so, with many locations setting record-low rainfall records and some receiving no rain at all, said state climatologist David Emory Stooksbury on GeorgiaDrought.org. [ http://www.apps.caes.uga.edu/news/storypage.cfm?storyid=3141 ] The lack of rain slowed plant growth, as shown in this vegetation index image. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite collected the data used to make this image between May 9 and May 24, 2007. The image shows vegetation conditions compared to average conditions observed from 2000 through 2006. Areas in which plants are more sparse or are growing more slowly than average are brown, while better-than-average growth is green. Georgia and its neighbors (South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida) are all brown, an indication that the lack of rainfall is suppressing plant growth. The gray area in southern Georgia and northern Florida shows where MODIS could not collect valid vegetation measurements, either because of clouds or smoke. In this case, the area corresponds with land that burned [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14282 ] during this period and was probably masked by smoke. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided by Inbal Reshef, Global Agricultural Monitoring Project [ http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/glam.cfm ]. |
|
Drought in the United States
| Title |
Drought in the United States |
| Description |
Record high temperatures combined with dry weather to plunge the Southeast United States deeper into drought in August 2007. Some states, including Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, were in exceptional drought, the highest rating on a five-point scale designated by the U.S. Drought Monitor. [ http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html ] In early August, a record-breaking heat wave settled over the southeastern United States, where land was already parched from a lack of rain. The temperatures baked the dry soil, leaving it even drier, and stream flows dropped. The impact of the drought on vegetation is illustrated in this vegetation anomaly image, which was made with data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite between August 13 and August 28, 2007. Areas where plants were less lush than they had been on average since 2000 are brown, while better-than-average conditions are green. Normal conditions are yellow, and areas that were covered in clouds are gray. The prevalence of brown in this image shows the wide-spread nature of the drought. The strongest drought signal is in southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 87 percent of the topsoil in Tennessee and Kentucky was rated dry or very dry between August 14 and August 21. In Tennessee, 84 percent of pastures were in poor to very poor condition during the same period, a figure that matches the conditions illustrated here. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of Inbal Reshef, Global Agriculture Monitoring Project [ http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/glam.cfm ] |
|
Hurricane Dennis
| Title |
Hurricane Dennis |
| Description |
More than a million people are evacuating the coastal areas of Florida and Alabama as Hurricane Dennis steadily approaches. The first hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, Dennis has already been a deadly storm. It crossed over Cuba on July 8 and 9, leaving at least 10 dead, and caused additional deaths in Haiti. After re-emerging over open water, Dennis re-strengthened into a dangerous Category 3 hurricane with winds approaching 115 miles per hour when this image was taken at 2:45 p.m. EDT on July 9, 2005. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on NASA?s Aqua [ http://www.aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image of the storm sliding up Florida?s west coast. The National Hurricane Center warns that Dennis continues to strengthen and may become a powerful Category 4 hurricane before making landfall over the northern Gulf Coast on July 10. For additional information and warnings about this storm, please visit the National Hurricane Center. This image is available in additional resolutions from the MODIS Rapid Response Team. NASA image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Hurricane Dennis
| Title |
Hurricane Dennis |
| Description |
Hurricane Dennis was bearing down on the Gulf Coast of the United States on July 10, 2005, at 12:15 p.m. (16:15 UTC) when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image. With winds of 135 miles per hour (217 kph), Dennis was a powerful Category 4 storm just hours away from making landfall. At the time this image was taken, the eye of the storm was about 55 miles (90 kilometers) south, southeast of Pensacola, Florida, and the storm was moving northwest at about 18 miles per hour (29 kph). The size of the storm put clouds of rain over most of the southeastern United States well before the storm came ashore. In this image, Dennis covers all of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and stretches over parts of Louisiana. The northern fringes of the storm appear to be over Tennessee and North Carolina. For additional information and warnings about this storm, please visit the National Hurricane Center. This image is available in additional resolutions from the MODIS Rapid Response Team. NASA image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Hurricane Frances
| Title |
Hurricane Frances |
| Description |
By the morning of September 4, 2004, Hurricane Frances had dropped in intensity from a maximum of category 4 (with 140 mph winds) to category 2 (105 mph winds). At the same time, the storm slowed to a standstill, delaying its arrival on the Florida coast and delivering sustained hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall to the Bahamas. At 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time the National Weather service predicted the storm would intensify slightly and strike Florida in the early hours of the morning. Because of the slow speed of the storm, extremely high total rainfall amounts are possible. After crossing Florida, Frances will likely weaken to a tropical storm and move over Mississippi and Alabama on Monday. For hurricane updates, visit the National Hurricane Center. [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ ] This image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite at 12:00 pm EDT September 4, 2004. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Hurricane Ivan
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan |
| Description |
The MODIS instrument flying aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured this true-color image of Hurricane Ivan on September 16, 2004 at 16:20 UTC (12:20 PM EDT). At the time this image was taken Ivan was moving north-northeastward across Alabama and had weaked to a tropical storm. Maximum sustained winds had decreased to 70 mph with higher gusts and Ivan was moving towards thr north-northeast at 14 mph. The image is available in additional resolutions and formats. Image by Liam Gumley, Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
|
Hurricane Ivan
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan |
| Description |
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (TRMM) satellite looked into the heart of Hurricane Ivan at 05:09 UTC (1:09 AM EDT) on September 15, 2004. This satellite overflight happened approximately one day before Ivan made landfall in Alabama and before Ivan was within range of the National Weather Service?s weather radars. The TRMM Precipitation Radar captured this view of the heavy rain in the eyewall that surrounds the quiet eye of the storm. Unlike the eye, the eyewall is the portion of the hurricane with the most violent surface winds and with strong convective rainfall. Scientists believe that particularly tall regions of rain in the eyewall are associated with increases in the intensity of the surface winds?and wind intensity is particularly difficult to forecast. In the top view of the storm, there is a heavy arc of rain between the Points A and B. In the side view of the storm, it becomes clear that the tallest region of rainfall is near Point A. In both cases, the blue three dimensional volume contains all regions where there is light rainfall (at least 2 mm/h) as measured by the TRMM Precipitation Radar. The red volume contains all regions of heavy rainfall (at least 25 mm/h). In the side view, the rain region near Point A is approximately 12 km (7.5 miles) high. The vertical dimension has been stretched to make it easier to see the structure of the storm. The height of the cloud top is not necessarily the same as the height of the region of rain inside the clouds. In fact, the TRMM instruments show a dramatic difference between cloud height and rain height around the eye of Hurricane Ivan. While the TRMM Precipitation Radar saw the heaviest rain to the northeast of the central eye, TRMM infrared data show a pair of very tall cloud tops to the north and south of the eye. In the infrared image, dark gray indicates warm clouds that are therefore low and white and pink indicate cold clouds that are therefore higher up. The gray rectangle locates the position of the Precipitation Radar image shown above. While it was still a day before Hurricane Ivan?s eye reached Alabama, Ivan?s outer rain bands were already brushing past Florida. The large-scale rain features of Hurricane Ivan can be seen in this composite that uses data from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The gray rectangle indicates the position of the TRMM infrared image. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). For more information, visit the TRMM homepage [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov ]. NASA image and caption courtesy Owen Kelley, NASA?s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission at Goddard Space Flight Center. |
|
Hurricane Ivan
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan |
| Description |
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (TRMM) satellite looked into the heart of Hurricane Ivan at 05:09 UTC (1:09 AM EDT) on September 15, 2004. This satellite overflight happened approximately one day before Ivan made landfall in Alabama and before Ivan was within range of the National Weather Service?s weather radars. The TRMM Precipitation Radar captured this view of the heavy rain in the eyewall that surrounds the quiet eye of the storm. Unlike the eye, the eyewall is the portion of the hurricane with the most violent surface winds and with strong convective rainfall. Scientists believe that particularly tall regions of rain in the eyewall are associated with increases in the intensity of the surface winds?and wind intensity is particularly difficult to forecast. In the top view of the storm, there is a heavy arc of rain between the Points A and B. In the side view of the storm, it becomes clear that the tallest region of rainfall is near Point A. In both cases, the blue three dimensional volume contains all regions where there is light rainfall (at least 2 mm/h) as measured by the TRMM Precipitation Radar. The red volume contains all regions of heavy rainfall (at least 25 mm/h). In the side view, the rain region near Point A is approximately 12 km (7.5 miles) high. The vertical dimension has been stretched to make it easier to see the structure of the storm. The height of the cloud top is not necessarily the same as the height of the region of rain inside the clouds. In fact, the TRMM instruments show a dramatic difference between cloud height and rain height around the eye of Hurricane Ivan. While the TRMM Precipitation Radar saw the heaviest rain to the northeast of the central eye, TRMM infrared data show a pair of very tall cloud tops to the north and south of the eye. In the infrared image, dark gray indicates warm clouds that are therefore low and white and pink indicate cold clouds that are therefore higher up. The gray rectangle locates the position of the Precipitation Radar image shown above. While it was still a day before Hurricane Ivan?s eye reached Alabama, Ivan?s outer rain bands were already brushing past Florida. The large-scale rain features of Hurricane Ivan can be seen in this composite that uses data from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The gray rectangle indicates the position of the TRMM infrared image. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). For more information, visit the TRMM homepage [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov ]. NASA image and caption courtesy Owen Kelley, NASA?s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission at Goddard Space Flight Center. |
|
Hurricane Ivan
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan |
| Description |
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (TRMM) satellite looked into the heart of Hurricane Ivan at 05:09 UTC (1:09 AM EDT) on September 15, 2004. This satellite overflight happened approximately one day before Ivan made landfall in Alabama and before Ivan was within range of the National Weather Service?s weather radars. The TRMM Precipitation Radar captured this view of the heavy rain in the eyewall that surrounds the quiet eye of the storm. Unlike the eye, the eyewall is the portion of the hurricane with the most violent surface winds and with strong convective rainfall. Scientists believe that particularly tall regions of rain in the eyewall are associated with increases in the intensity of the surface winds?and wind intensity is particularly difficult to forecast. In the top view of the storm, there is a heavy arc of rain between the Points A and B. In the side view of the storm, it becomes clear that the tallest region of rainfall is near Point A. In both cases, the blue three dimensional volume contains all regions where there is light rainfall (at least 2 mm/h) as measured by the TRMM Precipitation Radar. The red volume contains all regions of heavy rainfall (at least 25 mm/h). In the side view, the rain region near Point A is approximately 12 km (7.5 miles) high. The vertical dimension has been stretched to make it easier to see the structure of the storm. The height of the cloud top is not necessarily the same as the height of the region of rain inside the clouds. In fact, the TRMM instruments show a dramatic difference between cloud height and rain height around the eye of Hurricane Ivan. While the TRMM Precipitation Radar saw the heaviest rain to the northeast of the central eye, TRMM infrared data show a pair of very tall cloud tops to the north and south of the eye. In the infrared image, dark gray indicates warm clouds that are therefore low and white and pink indicate cold clouds that are therefore higher up. The gray rectangle locates the position of the Precipitation Radar image shown above. While it was still a day before Hurricane Ivan?s eye reached Alabama, Ivan?s outer rain bands were already brushing past Florida. The large-scale rain features of Hurricane Ivan can be seen in this composite that uses data from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The gray rectangle indicates the position of the TRMM infrared image. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). For more information, visit the TRMM homepage [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov ]. NASA image and caption courtesy Owen Kelley, NASA?s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission at Goddard Space Flight Center. |
|
Hurricane Ivan
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan |
| Description |
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (TRMM) satellite looked into the heart of Hurricane Ivan at 05:09 UTC (1:09 AM EDT) on September 15, 2004. This satellite overflight happened approximately one day before Ivan made landfall in Alabama and before Ivan was within range of the National Weather Service?s weather radars. The TRMM Precipitation Radar captured this view of the heavy rain in the eyewall that surrounds the quiet eye of the storm. Unlike the eye, the eyewall is the portion of the hurricane with the most violent surface winds and with strong convective rainfall. Scientists believe that particularly tall regions of rain in the eyewall are associated with increases in the intensity of the surface winds?and wind intensity is particularly difficult to forecast. In the top view of the storm, there is a heavy arc of rain between the Points A and B. In the side view of the storm, it becomes clear that the tallest region of rainfall is near Point A. In both cases, the blue three dimensional volume contains all regions where there is light rainfall (at least 2 mm/h) as measured by the TRMM Precipitation Radar. The red volume contains all regions of heavy rainfall (at least 25 mm/h). In the side view, the rain region near Point A is approximately 12 km (7.5 miles) high. The vertical dimension has been stretched to make it easier to see the structure of the storm. The height of the cloud top is not necessarily the same as the height of the region of rain inside the clouds. In fact, the TRMM instruments show a dramatic difference between cloud height and rain height around the eye of Hurricane Ivan. While the TRMM Precipitation Radar saw the heaviest rain to the northeast of the central eye, TRMM infrared data show a pair of very tall cloud tops to the north and south of the eye. In the infrared image, dark gray indicates warm clouds that are therefore low and white and pink indicate cold clouds that are therefore higher up. The gray rectangle locates the position of the Precipitation Radar image shown above. While it was still a day before Hurricane Ivan?s eye reached Alabama, Ivan?s outer rain bands were already brushing past Florida. The large-scale rain features of Hurricane Ivan can be seen in this composite that uses data from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The gray rectangle indicates the position of the TRMM infrared image. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). For more information, visit the TRMM homepage [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov ]. NASA image and caption courtesy Owen Kelley, NASA?s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission at Goddard Space Flight Center. |
|
Hurricane Ivan
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan |
| Description |
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (TRMM) satellite looked into the heart of Hurricane Ivan at 05:09 UTC (1:09 AM EDT) on September 15, 2004. This satellite overflight happened approximately one day before Ivan made landfall in Alabama and before Ivan was within range of the National Weather Service?s weather radars. The TRMM Precipitation Radar captured this view of the heavy rain in the eyewall that surrounds the quiet eye of the storm. Unlike the eye, the eyewall is the portion of the hurricane with the most violent surface winds and with strong convective rainfall. Scientists believe that particularly tall regions of rain in the eyewall are associated with increases in the intensity of the surface winds?and wind intensity is particularly difficult to forecast. In the top view of the storm, there is a heavy arc of rain between the Points A and B. In the side view of the storm, it becomes clear that the tallest region of rainfall is near Point A. In both cases, the blue three dimensional volume contains all regions where there is light rainfall (at least 2 mm/h) as measured by the TRMM Precipitation Radar. The red volume contains all regions of heavy rainfall (at least 25 mm/h). In the side view, the rain region near Point A is approximately 12 km (7.5 miles) high. The vertical dimension has been stretched to make it easier to see the structure of the storm. The height of the cloud top is not necessarily the same as the height of the region of rain inside the clouds. In fact, the TRMM instruments show a dramatic difference between cloud height and rain height around the eye of Hurricane Ivan. While the TRMM Precipitation Radar saw the heaviest rain to the northeast of the central eye, TRMM infrared data show a pair of very tall cloud tops to the north and south of the eye. In the infrared image, dark gray indicates warm clouds that are therefore low and white and pink indicate cold clouds that are therefore higher up. The gray rectangle locates the position of the Precipitation Radar image shown above. While it was still a day before Hurricane Ivan?s eye reached Alabama, Ivan?s outer rain bands were already brushing past Florida. The large-scale rain features of Hurricane Ivan can be seen in this composite that uses data from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The gray rectangle indicates the position of the TRMM infrared image. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). For more information, visit the TRMM homepage [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov ]. NASA image and caption courtesy Owen Kelley, NASA?s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission at Goddard Space Flight Center. |
|
Hurricane Ivan
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan |
| Description |
The MODIS instrument flying aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 at 18:50 UTC (2:50 PM EDT). At the time this image was taken Ivan was located approximately 170 miles south of the Alabama coastline and was moving towards the north at 14 mph. Ivan continues as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds near 135 mph with higher gusts. The National Hurricane Center is expecting Ivan to make landfall early Thursday morning as a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher). The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions and formats. NASA image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. |
|
Hurricane Ivan
| Title |
Hurricane Ivan |
| Description |
The MODIS instrument flying aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of Hurricane Ivan on September 15, 2004 at 18:50 UTC (2:50 PM EDT). At the time this image was taken Ivan was located approximately 170 miles south of the Alabama coastline and was moving towards the north at 14 mph. Ivan continues as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds near 135 mph with higher gusts. The National Hurricane Center is expecting Ivan to make landfall early Thursday morning as a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher). The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions and formats. NASA image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. |
|
Hurricane Katrina
| Title |
Hurricane Katrina |
| Description |
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology. Images and movie courtesy of NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. Caption details provided by Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/Jet Propulsion Laboratory), David J. Diner, Mike Garay and Ralph Kahn (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Greg McFarquhar (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)., MISR stereo-height estimates (not shown here) indicate that the highest clouds reach 18-19 kilometers above the surface of the Earth. The stereo anaglyph shows relative height variations and enhances the appearance of thin clouds, such as those that mark the series of gravity waves north-east of the eyewall. Atmospheric gravity waves are caused by air displacements in an otherwise stable air layer. In this case, the gravity waves are above the hurricane arms in the upper troposphere, and were probably generated as the towering storm updraft tried to push into the stable air between the troposphere and the stratosphere (known as the tropopause). Some of Katrina's cloud tops were about 2 kilometers above the tropopause. Such high "overshooting tops" are also characteristic of strong and rapidly growing storms. The animation progresses from MISR's most forward-pointing camera, which views the scene first, to the most backward-pointing camera, which views the scene last. It was created by aligning the views from all 9 cameras using the high clouds within the eyewall as a reference point. North is at the top. The convective cloud towers, especially those along the eastern sides of the inner and outer eyewalls, attain the highest altitudes and indicate that the storm is strengthening. Those areas that do not exhibit cloud-top convection are clouds experiencing vertical wind shear, and tend to be lower than the towering cloud structures. The vertical and horizontal development of the convective clouds and the formation of an outer ring of growing clouds (referred to as an "eyewall replacement cycle") also indicate rapid strengthening. During this stage of hurricane development, an outer band of clouds may gradually move inward to replace the existing hurricane eyewall, causing the central pressure to increase and weaken the storm in the short term. However, eyewall replacement may sometimes be a forerunner for rapid strengthening in the longer term. This was the case with Hurricane Katrina, whose central pressure increased slightly on Saturday, but then dropped again significantly on Sunday when Katrina became a Category 5 storm. Observing the development of a concentric eyewall at this spatial and temporal resolution is a unique feature of these MISR observations. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82 degrees North and 82 degrees South latitude every nine days. The still images each cover an area of about 827 kilometers by 380 kilometers, and the animation covers an area of about 202 kilometers by 214 kilometers. The data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 30280 and utilize data from blocks 69 to 74 within World Reference System-2 path 17. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's, This image and animation from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) show the strong convective development of Hurricane Katrina on Saturday, August 27, as it moved west through the Gulf of Mexico. Over 7 minutes during which all 9 MISR cameras viewed Katrina, the animation captures the cloud-top sides, the counterclockwise rotation of the eyewall, and the bubbling growth of the towering cloud structures. At this time, Katrina was undergoing rapid development— it had just been upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane, and within 24 hours it would reach Category 5. On Monday morning when the eyewall made landfall over the United States, it was a Category 4 storm. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most powerful and destructive storms on record for the Atlantic Basin. The image above is a false-color view (near-infrared, red, and blue wavelengths of reflected light displayed as red, green and blue) from MISR's nadir (pointing straight down) camera. In the image above, north is up. The high resolution image linked above shows a wider view of this false-color image, with north to the left. The vegetated Alabama coast in the upper left-hand corner in this high-resolution image appears in red hues. The bottom panel in the high-resolution image is a 3-D stereo anaglyph created with red band data from MISR's 70-degree-forward-viewing and 60-degree-forward-viewing cameras, displayed as red and green/blue, respectively. To observe the height variations in 3-D, you will need to use red/blue glasses. [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/Help/VendorList.html#Glasses ] |
|
Hurricane Katrina
| Title |
Hurricane Katrina |
| Description |
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology. Images and movie courtesy of NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. Caption details provided by Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/Jet Propulsion Laboratory), David J. Diner, Mike Garay and Ralph Kahn (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Greg McFarquhar (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)., MISR stereo-height estimates (not shown here) indicate that the highest clouds reach 18-19 kilometers above the surface of the Earth. The stereo anaglyph shows relative height variations and enhances the appearance of thin clouds, such as those that mark the series of gravity waves north-east of the eyewall. Atmospheric gravity waves are caused by air displacements in an otherwise stable air layer. In this case, the gravity waves are above the hurricane arms in the upper troposphere, and were probably generated as the towering storm updraft tried to push into the stable air between the troposphere and the stratosphere (known as the tropopause). Some of Katrina's cloud tops were about 2 kilometers above the tropopause. Such high "overshooting tops" are also characteristic of strong and rapidly growing storms. The animation progresses from MISR's most forward-pointing camera, which views the scene first, to the most backward-pointing camera, which views the scene last. It was created by aligning the views from all 9 cameras using the high clouds within the eyewall as a reference point. North is at the top. The convective cloud towers, especially those along the eastern sides of the inner and outer eyewalls, attain the highest altitudes and indicate that the storm is strengthening. Those areas that do not exhibit cloud-top convection are clouds experiencing vertical wind shear, and tend to be lower than the towering cloud structures. The vertical and horizontal development of the convective clouds and the formation of an outer ring of growing clouds (referred to as an "eyewall replacement cycle") also indicate rapid strengthening. During this stage of hurricane development, an outer band of clouds may gradually move inward to replace the existing hurricane eyewall, causing the central pressure to increase and weaken the storm in the short term. However, eyewall replacement may sometimes be a forerunner for rapid strengthening in the longer term. This was the case with Hurricane Katrina, whose central pressure increased slightly on Saturday, but then dropped again significantly on Sunday when Katrina became a Category 5 storm. Observing the development of a concentric eyewall at this spatial and temporal resolution is a unique feature of these MISR observations. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82 degrees North and 82 degrees South latitude every nine days. The still images each cover an area of about 827 kilometers by 380 kilometers, and the animation covers an area of about 202 kilometers by 214 kilometers. The data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 30280 and utilize data from blocks 69 to 74 within World Reference System-2 path 17. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's, This image and animation from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) show the strong convective development of Hurricane Katrina on Saturday, August 27, as it moved west through the Gulf of Mexico. Over 7 minutes during which all 9 MISR cameras viewed Katrina, the animation captures the cloud-top sides, the counterclockwise rotation of the eyewall, and the bubbling growth of the towering cloud structures. At this time, Katrina was undergoing rapid development— it had just been upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane, and within 24 hours it would reach Category 5. On Monday morning when the eyewall made landfall over the United States, it was a Category 4 storm. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most powerful and destructive storms on record for the Atlantic Basin. The image above is a false-color view (near-infrared, red, and blue wavelengths of reflected light displayed as red, green and blue) from MISR's nadir (pointing straight down) camera. In the image above, north is up. The high resolution image linked above shows a wider view of this false-color image, with north to the left. The vegetated Alabama coast in the upper left-hand corner in this high-resolution image appears in red hues. The bottom panel in the high-resolution image is a 3-D stereo anaglyph created with red band data from MISR's 70-degree-forward-viewing and 60-degree-forward-viewing cameras, displayed as red and green/blue, respectively. To observe the height variations in 3-D, you will need to use red/blue glasses. [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/Help/VendorList.html#Glasses ] |
|
Hurricane Katrina
| Title |
Hurricane Katrina |
| Description |
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology. Images and movie courtesy of NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. Caption details provided by Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/Jet Propulsion Laboratory), David J. Diner, Mike Garay and Ralph Kahn (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Greg McFarquhar (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)., MISR stereo-height estimates (not shown here) indicate that the highest clouds reach 18-19 kilometers above the surface of the Earth. The stereo anaglyph shows relative height variations and enhances the appearance of thin clouds, such as those that mark the series of gravity waves north-east of the eyewall. Atmospheric gravity waves are caused by air displacements in an otherwise stable air layer. In this case, the gravity waves are above the hurricane arms in the upper troposphere, and were probably generated as the towering storm updraft tried to push into the stable air between the troposphere and the stratosphere (known as the tropopause). Some of Katrina's cloud tops were about 2 kilometers above the tropopause. Such high "overshooting tops" are also characteristic of strong and rapidly growing storms. The animation progresses from MISR's most forward-pointing camera, which views the scene first, to the most backward-pointing camera, which views the scene last. It was created by aligning the views from all 9 cameras using the high clouds within the eyewall as a reference point. North is at the top. The convective cloud towers, especially those along the eastern sides of the inner and outer eyewalls, attain the highest altitudes and indicate that the storm is strengthening. Those areas that do not exhibit cloud-top convection are clouds experiencing vertical wind shear, and tend to be lower than the towering cloud structures. The vertical and horizontal development of the convective clouds and the formation of an outer ring of growing clouds (referred to as an "eyewall replacement cycle") also indicate rapid strengthening. During this stage of hurricane development, an outer band of clouds may gradually move inward to replace the existing hurricane eyewall, causing the central pressure to increase and weaken the storm in the short term. However, eyewall replacement may sometimes be a forerunner for rapid strengthening in the longer term. This was the case with Hurricane Katrina, whose central pressure increased slightly on Saturday, but then dropped again significantly on Sunday when Katrina became a Category 5 storm. Observing the development of a concentric eyewall at this spatial and temporal resolution is a unique feature of these MISR observations. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82 degrees North and 82 degrees South latitude every nine days. The still images each cover an area of about 827 kilometers by 380 kilometers, and the animation covers an area of about 202 kilometers by 214 kilometers. The data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 30280 and utilize data from blocks 69 to 74 within World Reference System-2 path 17. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's, This image and animation from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) show the strong convective development of Hurricane Katrina on Saturday, August 27, as it moved west through the Gulf of Mexico. Over 7 minutes during which all 9 MISR cameras viewed Katrina, the animation captures the cloud-top sides, the counterclockwise rotation of the eyewall, and the bubbling growth of the towering cloud structures. At this time, Katrina was undergoing rapid development— it had just been upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane, and within 24 hours it would reach Category 5. On Monday morning when the eyewall made landfall over the United States, it was a Category 4 storm. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most powerful and destructive storms on record for the Atlantic Basin. The image above is a false-color view (near-infrared, red, and blue wavelengths of reflected light displayed as red, green and blue) from MISR's nadir (pointing straight down) camera. In the image above, north is up. The high resolution image linked above shows a wider view of this false-color image, with north to the left. The vegetated Alabama coast in the upper left-hand corner in this high-resolution image appears in red hues. The bottom panel in the high-resolution image is a 3-D stereo anaglyph created with red band data from MISR's 70-degree-forward-viewing and 60-degree-forward-viewing cameras, displayed as red and green/blue, respectively. To observe the height variations in 3-D, you will need to use red/blue glasses. [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/Help/VendorList.html#Glasses ] |
|
Hurricane Katrina
| Title |
Hurricane Katrina |
| Description |
Hurricane Katrina was sprawled across all or part of 16 states at 2:15 p.m. CDT on August 29, 2005, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image. After nearly eight hours over land, Katrina was still a Category 1 storm, with winds of 150 kilometers per hour (95 miles per hour) and stronger gusts. In this image, Katrina measures about 1,260 kilometers (780 miles) from east to west and about the same distance from north to south across its center. While most states under its clouds have only experienced rain so far, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida have all been pummeled by furious winds, heavy rain, and a powerful storm surge. Katrina was a strong Category 3 storm when its eye moved ashore earlier in the day. The large image provided above has a resolution of 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides the image in additional resolutions, including MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the
…
| Title |
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the U.S. Gulf Coast |
| Description |
Dauphin Island guards the mouth of Mobile Bay, Alabama, from the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Though not directly under the eye of the storm, the island was blasted with a powerful storm surge when Hurricane Katrina came ashore on August 29, 2005. When the storm passed, Dauphin Island had been divided in two. On September 10, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]) captured the top image of the permanently altered island. A large inlet has been cut across the island in the same spot that a much smaller inlet existed before the storm. The western tip of the island has also been washed away, though no other changes are obvious. Miraculously, the thin causeway that connects the island to the mainland appears to be intact. In these images, vegetation is red while sand is a brilliant white. Barrier islands are constantly changing with shorelines building and eroding at remarkable speed. The islands are also routinely shaped by powerful storms, sometimes dramatically breaking apart as Dauphin Island broke under Katrina's wrath. Barrier islands often absorb the brunt of a hurricane's storm surge, offering some protection to the mainland shore. NASA images courtesy Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the
…
| Title |
Hurricane Katrina Erodes the U.S. Gulf Coast |
| Description |
Dauphin Island guards the mouth of Mobile Bay, Alabama, from the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Though not directly under the eye of the storm, the island was blasted with a powerful storm surge when Hurricane Katrina came ashore on August 29, 2005. When the storm passed, Dauphin Island had been divided in two. On September 10, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]) captured the top image of the permanently altered island. A large inlet has been cut across the island in the same spot that a much smaller inlet existed before the storm. The western tip of the island has also been washed away, though no other changes are obvious. Miraculously, the thin causeway that connects the island to the mainland appears to be intact. In these images, vegetation is red while sand is a brilliant white. Barrier islands are constantly changing with shorelines building and eroding at remarkable speed. The islands are also routinely shaped by powerful storms, sometimes dramatically breaking apart as Dauphin Island broke under Katrina's wrath. Barrier islands often absorb the brunt of a hurricane's storm surge, offering some protection to the mainland shore. NASA images courtesy Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Hurricane Katrina Floods the
…
| Title |
Hurricane Katrina Floods the Southeastern United States |
| Description |
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, much of New Orleans is under water in the top satellite image, taken on August 30, 2005, at 11:45 a.m. CDT by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. Early news reports say that as much as 80 percent of the city is flooded after levees failed to hold Katrina's massive storm surge back. The flooding is getting worse as water slowly seeps into the city from Lake Pontchartrain. On Saturday, August 27, 2005, New Orleans formed a tan and green grid sandwiched between the lake shore and the river in the lower image. Three days later, dark pools of water covered the eastern half of the city, and a large section of Lake Pontchartrain ballooned into the region immediately west of the city. Widespread flooding is visible elsewhere in the top image. Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas have nearly blended into a single body of water, separated only by a narrow strip of land. Dark smudges line the rivers flowing into both lakes, a sign that water covers the ground around them. The images are shown in false color to make water visible against the land. Water is black or dark blue where it is colored with mud, vegetation is bright green, and clouds are light blue and white. The large images provided above provide a broader view of the region. They show flooding along the Mississippi and Alabama coast [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13090 ], particularly around Mobile Bay and parts of coastal Mississippi. The large images are at MODIS' maximum resolution, but both the August 30 and August 27 images are available in additional resolutions from the MODIS Rapid Response Team. NASA images courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Hurricane Rita
| Title |
Hurricane Rita |
| Description |
Rita became a Category 5 hurricane late on September 21, 2005, with sustained wind speeds of 275 kilometers per hour (170 miles per hour), making it the fourth most powerful storm ever measured. It was easing off this strength slightly by mid-day September 22 when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image at 12:55 p.m., U.S. Eastern time. The storm bears the markings of a powerful hurricane: it is compact and circular, though clouds have formed in the eye of the storm. This closed or "dirty" eye shape is typical of a storm which has reached its peak strength and is slackening. However, Rita remained a remarkably powerful storm. At the time this image was acquired, Rita had winds of 250 kilometers per hour (155 miles per hour) with gusts as high as 310 km/hr (195 mph). Rita is the second Category 5 storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The first was Hurricane Katrina, which devastated much of the Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama shoreline when it came ashore on August 29. Rita is expected to weaken slightly before coming ashore over the Texas or Louisiana coastline on September 23 or 24 as a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher). In this photo-like image, the Gulf Coast of the United States frames the open water to the north, while the Yucatan Peninsula is visible to the south. The air just below the cloud banks of Rita is remarkably clear, where wind and pressure patterns caused by the storm have banked polluted air away to the north and west. The large image has a resolution of 250 meters per pixel. It is available in additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2005265-0922/Rita.A2005265.1655 ] from the MODIS Rapid Response Team. For more information about Hurricane Rita, please visit the National Hurricane Center [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ ] web site. NASA image courtesy of Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. |
|
Hurricane Rita
| Title |
Hurricane Rita |
| Description |
Rita was building into an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image at 12:10 p.m., U.S. Eastern time on September 21, 2005. The storm bears the markings of a powerful hurricane: it is compact and circular, with an open eye through which the deep blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico are visible. At the time this image was acquired, Rita had winds of 220 kilometers per hour (140 miles per hour) with gusts to 270 kph (170 mph). Within a few hours, the storm intensified to a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 265 kph (165 mph). Rita is the second Category 5 storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The first was Hurricane Katrina, which devastated much of the Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama shoreline when it came ashore on August 29. Rita is expected to weaken slightly before coming ashore over the Texas or Louisiana coastline on September 23 or 24 as a major hurricane (Category 3 or higher). In this photo-like image, the Gulf Coast of the United States frames the open water to the north, while the Yucatan Peninsula is visible to the south. MODIS detected several fires, marked with red dots, burning in the southeastern United States. The fires are probably agricultural fires. The large image has a resolution of 500 meters per pixel. It is available in additional resolutions, including MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel, from the MODIS Rapid Response Team. For more information about Hurricane Rita, please visit the National Hurricane Center [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ ] web site. NASA image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Fires Across Southern United
…
| Title |
Fires Across Southern United States |
| Description |
This image of fires in the southern United States was captured on March 10, 2004, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite. Actively burning fires have been marked with red dots in Oklahoma (top left), Texas (bottom left), Arkansas (top center), Louisiana (bottom center), and (left to right across the rest of the image) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Most of us don?t think of late winter as fire season in the United States, but according to the Southern Coordination Center for the National Interagency Fire Center, just over 993,000 acres had been affected by fire in the Southern region as of March 23, 2004: 11,936 human-caused fires affected 130,385 acres, 18 lightning-caused fire affected 225 acres, and 1,084 prescribed fires (those set by land management agencies for natural resource management purposes) affected 862,772 acres. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC |
|
Fires Across Southern United
…
| Title |
Fires Across Southern United States |
| Description |
On March 12, 2004, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite captured this image of dozens of fires burning across the Southeast. Fires, marked with red, are present in every state pictured: (top row to bottom row, left to right) Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. Most of us don?t think of late winter as fire season in the United States, but according to the Southern Coordination Center for the National Interagency Fire Center, just over 993,000 acres had been affected by fire in the Southern region as of March 23, 2004: 11,936 human-caused fires affected 130,385 acres, 18 lightning-caused fire affected 225 acres, and 1,084 prescribed fires (those set by land management agencies for natural resource management purposes) affected 862,772 acres. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC |
|
Fires Across the Southern U.
…
| Title |
Fires Across the Southern U.S. |
| Description |
A mixture of prescribed fires and wildfires was burning throughout the southern United States on January 14, 2003. This image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite, and shows active fire detection by MODIS marked with red dots. States with fires include (bottom left to right) Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South and North Carolina, with Florida in the bottom right corner. According to the January 15 morning report from the Southern Fire Coordination Center of the National Interagency Fire Center, 17 prescribed burns were underway on more than 11,500 acres in Arkansas (visible, but cloud-covered in the high-resolution image), Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Dozens of additional small fires were reported on state lands throughout the south as well. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Fires in Mississippi Valley
| Title |
Fires in Mississippi Valley |
| Description |
What they lack in drama, the fires in the Southeast U.S. make up for in numbers each year. There are more fires in the Mississippi Valley, the Plains and the Southeast every year than there are out West, but they are generally much smaller and do not gain the attention of the national news media. This image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on September 16, 2003, shows dozens of actively burning fires (red dots) in the states east and west of the Mississippi River Plain, which cuts vertically through the image. States shown include (bottom row, left to right) Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. North of Louisiana, numerous fires are burning in Arkansas. Left and right of Arkansas are Oklahoma and Tennessee, respectively. Across the top (left to right) are Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky. The vegetation that is spread over the region is showing little sign of the approaching autumn equinox. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Fires in the Southeastern Un
…
| Title |
Fires in the Southeastern United States |
| Description |
In the Southeast, scattered fires were burning across Alabama, Georgia, and Florida on March 22, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite passed overhead. According to the March 22 report from the Southern Area Coordination Center, [ http://gacc.nifc.gov/sacc/predictive/intelligence/intelligence.htm ] a few prescribed fires (intentional fires set by land managers for natural resource management) were underway across the Southern District, but the majority of the fires were of other human origins. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides images of the area additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA7/2006081/USA7.2006081.aqua ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
|
