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Astronomers Use Innovative T
…
| Title |
Astronomers Use Innovative Technique to Find Extrasolar Planet |
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NASA Finds Direct Proof of D
…
| Title |
NASA Finds Direct Proof of Dark Matter |
| General Information |
What is a News Nugget? News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy. Dark matter and normal matter have been wrenched apart by the tremendous collision of two large clusters of galaxies. This composite image shows the galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56, also known as the "bullet cluster." The hot gas detected by Chandra in X-rays is seen as two pink clumps in the image and contains most of the "normal" matter in the two clusters. The bullet-shaped clump on the right is the hot gas from one cluster, which passed through the hot gas from the other larger cluster during the collision. An optical image from Magellan and the Hubble Space Telescope shows the galaxies in orange and white. The blue areas in this image show where astronomers find most of the mass in the clusters. For more information about this research on the Web, visit: http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/06_releases/press_082106.html [ http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/06_releases/press_082106.html ] |
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Hubble Finds Multiple Stella
…
| Title |
Hubble Finds Multiple Stellar 'Baby Booms' in a Globular Cluster |
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Hubble Finds Multiple Stella
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| Title |
Hubble Finds Multiple Stellar 'Baby Booms' in a Globular Cluster |
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Astronomers Use Innovative T
…
| Title |
Astronomers Use Innovative Technique to Find Extrasolar Planet |
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Hubble Yields Direct Proof o
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| Title |
Hubble Yields Direct Proof of Stellar Sorting in a Globular Cluster |
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Hubble Yields Direct Proof o
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| Title |
Hubble Yields Direct Proof of Stellar Sorting in a Globular Cluster |
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Hubble Yields Direct Proof o
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| Title |
Hubble Yields Direct Proof of Stellar Sorting in a Globular Cluster |
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Hubble's Advanced Camera for
…
| Title |
Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys Resumes Exploring the Universe |
| General Information |
What is a News Nugget? News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy. After a brief hiatus, the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA?s Hubble Space Telescope is back in business, probing the far reaches of space in a quest to understand the true nature of the universe?s most dominant constituent: dark energy. This is one of the first images of the universe taken after the ACS camera resumed science operation on July 4th. The camera was offline for nearly two weeks as NASA engineers switched to a backup power supply after the camera?s primary power supply failed. Read more: * The Full Story [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/36/full/ ] |
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Hubble's Advanced Camera for
…
| Title |
Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys Resumes Exploring the Universe |
| General Information |
What is a News Nugget? News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy. After a brief hiatus, the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA?s Hubble Space Telescope is back in business, probing the far reaches of space in a quest to understand the true nature of the universe?s most dominant constituent: dark energy. This is one of the first images of the universe taken after the ACS camera resumed science operation on July 4th. The camera was offline for nearly two weeks as NASA engineers switched to a backup power supply after the camera?s primary power supply failed. Read more: * The Full Story [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/36/full/ ] |
|
Hubble's Advanced Camera for
…
| Title |
Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys Resumes Exploring the Universe |
| General Information |
What is a News Nugget? News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy. After a brief hiatus, the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA?s Hubble Space Telescope is back in business, probing the far reaches of space in a quest to understand the true nature of the universe?s most dominant constituent: dark energy. This is one of the first images of the universe taken after the ACS camera resumed science operation on July 4th. The camera was offline for nearly two weeks as NASA engineers switched to a backup power supply after the camera?s primary power supply failed. Read more: * The Full Story [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/36/full/ ] |
|
Hubble's Advanced Camera for
…
| Title |
Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys Resumes Exploring the Universe |
| General Information |
What is a News Nugget? News Nuggets are bulletins from the world of astronomy. After a brief hiatus, the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA?s Hubble Space Telescope is back in business, probing the far reaches of space in a quest to understand the true nature of the universe?s most dominant constituent: dark energy. This is one of the first images of the universe taken after the ACS camera resumed science operation on July 4th. The camera was offline for nearly two weeks as NASA engineers switched to a backup power supply after the camera?s primary power supply failed. Read more: * The Full Story [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/36/full/ ] |
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ACD06-0232-001
LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observa
…
4/10/06
| Description |
LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) Mission Art IMAGES COURTESY OF NORTHROP GRUMMAN, WILLIAM FURLONG, ARTIST This NASA Ames spacecraft is a small "secondary payload" spacecraft that will travel with Lunar Reconnaissance Obriter (LRO) satellite to the moon on the same rocket, the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) to be launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida in a search for water ice on the moon's south polar region. As the spacecraft approaches the moon's south pole, the upper stge will separate, and then will impact a crater in the south pole area. A plume from the upper stage crash will develope as the Shepherding Spacecraft heads in toward the moon. The Shepherding Spacecrat will fly through the plume, and instruments on the spacecraft wil analyze the cloud to look for signs of water and other compounds. Additional space and Earth-based instruments will study the 2.2-millon-pound (1000-metric-ton) plume. "The LCROSS mission will help us to determine if there is water hidden in the permanently dark craters on the moon's south pole." said Marvin( (Chris) Christensen, Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP) manager, and Deputy Director of NASA Ames. |
| Date |
4/10/06 |
|
ACD06-0232-002
LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observa
…
4/10/06
| Description |
LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) Mission Art IMAGES COURTESY OF NORTHROP GRUMMAN, WILLIAM FURLONG, ARTIST This NASA Ames spacecraft is a small "secondary payload" spacecraft that will travel with Lunar Reconnaissance Obriter (LRO) satellite to the moon on the same rocket, the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) to be launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida in a search for water ice on the moon's south polar region. As the spacecraft approaches the moon's south pole, the upper stge will separate, and then will impact a crater in the south pole area. A plume from the upper stage crash will develope as the Shepherding Spacecraft heads in toward the moon. The Shepherding Spacecrat will fly through the plume, and instruments on the spacecraft wil analyze the cloud to look for signs of water and other compounds. Additional space and Earth-based instruments will study the 2.2-millon-pound (1000-metric-ton) plume. "The LCROSS mission will help us to determine if there is water hidden in the permanently dark craters on the moon's south pole." said Marvin( (Chris) Christensen, Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP) manager, and Deputy Director of NASA Ames. |
| Date |
4/10/06 |
|
ACD06-0232-003
LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observa
…
4/10/06
| Description |
LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) Mission Art IMAGES COURTESY OF NORTHROP GRUMMAN, WILLIAM FURLONG, ARTIST This NASA Ames spacecraft is a small "secondary payload" spacecraft that will travel with Lunar Reconnaissance Obriter (LRO) satellite to the moon on the same rocket, the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) to be launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida in a search for water ice on the moon's south polar region. As the spacecraft approaches the moon's south pole, the upper stge will separate, and then will impact a crater in the south pole area. A plume from the upper stage crash will develope as the Shepherding Spacecraft heads in toward the moon. The Shepherding Spacecrat will fly through the plume, and instruments on the spacecraft wil analyze the cloud to look for signs of water and other compounds. Additional space and Earth-based instruments will study the 2.2-millon-pound (1000-metric-ton) plume. "The LCROSS mission will help us to determine if there is water hidden in the permanently dark craters on the moon's south pole." said Marvin( (Chris) Christensen, Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP) manager, and Deputy Director of NASA Ames. |
| Date |
4/10/06 |
|
ACD06-0232-004
LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observa
…
4/10/06
| Description |
LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) Mission Art IMAGES COURTESY OF NORTHROP GRUMMAN, WILLIAM FURLONG, ARTIST This NASA Ames spacecraft is a small "secondary payload" spacecraft that will travel with Lunar Reconnaissance Obriter (LRO) satellite to the moon on the same rocket, the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) to be launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida in a search for water ice on the moon's south polar region. As the spacecraft approaches the moon's south pole, the upper stge will separate, and then will impact a crater in the south pole area. A plume from the upper stage crash will develope as the Shepherding Spacecraft heads in toward the moon. The Shepherding Spacecrat will fly through the plume, and instruments on the spacecraft wil analyze the cloud to look for signs of water and other compounds. Additional space and Earth-based instruments will study the 2.2-millon-pound (1000-metric-ton) plume. "The LCROSS mission will help us to determine if there is water hidden in the permanently dark craters on the moon's south pole." said Marvin( (Chris) Christensen, Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP) manager, and Deputy Director of NASA Ames. |
| Date |
4/10/06 |
|
ACD06-0232-005
LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observa
…
4/10/06
| Description |
LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) Mission Art IMAGES COURTESY OF NORTHROP GRUMMAN, WILLIAM FURLONG, ARTIST This NASA Ames spacecraft is a small "secondary payload" spacecraft that will travel with Lunar Reconnaissance Obriter (LRO) satellite to the moon on the same rocket, the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) to be launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida in a search for water ice on the moon's south polar region. As the spacecraft approaches the moon's south pole, the upper stge will separate, and then will impact a crater in the south pole area. A plume from the upper stage crash will develope as the Shepherding Spacecraft heads in toward the moon. The Shepherding Spacecrat will fly through the plume, and instruments on the spacecraft wil analyze the cloud to look for signs of water and other compounds. Additional space and Earth-based instruments will study the 2.2-millon-pound (1000-metric-ton) plume. "The LCROSS mission will help us to determine if there is water hidden in the permanently dark craters on the moon's south pole." said Marvin( (Chris) Christensen, Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP) manager, and Deputy Director of NASA Ames. |
| Date |
4/10/06 |
|
| Photo Description |
Following its landing on June 22, 2007, the Space Shuttle Atlantis is towed from the runway at Edwards Air Force Base to NASA Dryden's Mate-Demate Device (MDD) for post-flight processing in preparation for its return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. |
| Project Description |
Space Shuttle Atlantis descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., concluding a successful assembly mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault at the controls, Atlantis landed at 12:49 p.m. PDT on June 22, 2007. Atlantis launched June 8, 2007, and arrived at the International Space Station on June 10. While at the orbital outpost, the crew installed the Starboard 3 and 4 truss segment and conducted four spacewalks to activate it. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired an out of position thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system pod. Atlantis also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson. He replaced astronaut Suni Williams, who is the new record holder for a long-duration single spaceflight for a woman. She arrived at the station in December of 2006 with STS-116. STS-117 is the 118th shuttle mission and 21st mission to visit the space station. |
| Photo Date |
June 22, 2007 |
|
| Photo Description |
Lit by sunlight filtered through the smoke of a distant forest fire, the Space Shuttle Atlantis receives post-flight servicing in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), following its landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The gantry-like MDD structure is used for servicing the shuttle orbiters in preparation for their ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, including mounting the shuttle atop NASA?s modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. |
| Project Description |
Space Shuttle Atlantis descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., concluding a successful assembly mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault at the controls, Atlantis landed at 12:49 p.m. PDT on June 22, 2007. Atlantis launched June 8, 2007, and arrived at the International Space Station on June 10. While at the orbital outpost, the crew installed the Starboard 3 and 4 truss segment and conducted four spacewalks to activate it. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired an out of position thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system pod. Atlantis also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson. He replaced astronaut Suni Williams, who is the new record holder for a long-duration single spaceflight for a woman. She arrived at the station in December of 2006 with STS-116. STS-117 is the 118th shuttle mission and 21st mission to visit the space station. |
| Photo Date |
June 25, 2007 |
|
| Photo Description |
The Space Shuttle Atlantis receives post-flight servicing in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), following its landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, June 22, 2007. The gantry-like MDD structure is used for servicing the shuttle orbiters in preparation for their ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, including mounting the shuttle atop NASA?s modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. |
| Project Description |
Space Shuttle Atlantis descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., concluding a successful assembly mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault at the controls, Atlantis landed at 12:49 p.m. PDT on June 22, 2007. Atlantis launched June 8, 2007, and arrived at the International Space Station on June 10. While at the orbital outpost, the crew installed the Starboard 3 and 4 truss segment and conducted four spacewalks to activate it. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired an out of position thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system pod. Atlantis also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson. He replaced astronaut Suni Williams, who is the new record holder for a long-duration single spaceflight for a woman. She arrived at the station in December of 2006 with STS-116. STS-117 is the 118th shuttle mission and 21st mission to visit the space station. |
| Photo Date |
June 23, 2007 |
|
| Photo Description |
Technicians attach the tail cone, which helps reduce aerodynamic drag and turbulence during its ferry flight, to the Space Shuttle Atlantis in preparation for its return to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After the tail-cone is installed, Discovery will be mounted on NASA?s modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, for the return flight. |
| Project Description |
Space Shuttle Atlantis descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., concluding a successful assembly mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault at the controls, Atlantis landed at 12:49 p.m. PDT on June 22, 2007. Atlantis launched June 8, 2007, and arrived at the International Space Station on June 10. While at the orbital outpost, the crew installed the Starboard 3 and 4 truss segment and conducted four spacewalks to activate it. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired an out of position thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system pod. Atlantis also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson. He replaced astronaut Suni Williams, who is the new record holder for a long-duration single spaceflight for a woman. She arrived at the station in December of 2006 with STS-116. STS-117 is the 118th shuttle mission and 21st mission to visit the space station. |
| Photo Date |
June 28, 2007 |
|
| Photo Description |
Technicians attach the tail cone, which helps reduce aerodynamic drag and turbulence during its ferry flight, to the Space Shuttle Atlantis in preparation for its return to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After the tail-cone is installed, Discovery will be mounted on NASA?s modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, for the return flight. |
| Project Description |
Space Shuttle Atlantis descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., concluding a successful assembly mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault at the controls, Atlantis landed at 12:49 p.m. PDT on June 22, 2007. Atlantis launched June 8, 2007, and arrived at the International Space Station on June 10. While at the orbital outpost, the crew installed the Starboard 3 and 4 truss segment and conducted four spacewalks to activate it. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired an out of position thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system pod. Atlantis also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson. He replaced astronaut Suni Williams, who is the new record holder for a long-duration single spaceflight for a woman. She arrived at the station in December of 2006 with STS-116. STS-117 is the 118th shuttle mission and 21st mission to visit the space station. |
| Photo Date |
June 28, 2007 |
|
| Photo Description |
NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with the Space Shuttle Atlantis on top lifts off from Edwards Air Force Base to begin its ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cross-country journey will take approximately two days, with stops at several intermediate points for refueling. |
| Project Description |
Space Shuttle Atlantis descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., concluding a successful assembly mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault at the controls, Atlantis landed at 12:49 p.m. PDT on June 22, 2007. Atlantis launched June 8, 2007, and arrived at the International Space Station on June 10. While at the orbital outpost, the crew installed the Starboard 3 and 4 truss segment and conducted four spacewalks to activate it. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired an out of position thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system pod. Atlantis also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson. He replaced astronaut Suni Williams, who is the new record holder for a long-duration single spaceflight for a woman. She arrived at the station in December of 2006 with STS-116. STS-117 is the 118th shuttle mission and 21st mission to visit the space station. |
| Photo Date |
July 1, 2007 |
|
| Photo Description |
NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with the Space Shuttle Atlantis on top lifts off from Edwards Air Force Base to begin its ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cross-country journey will take approximately two days, with stops at several intermediate points for refueling. |
| Project Description |
Space Shuttle Atlantis descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., concluding a successful assembly mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault at the controls, Atlantis landed at 12:49 p.m. PDT on June 22, 2007. Atlantis launched June 8, 2007, and arrived at the International Space Station on June 10. While at the orbital outpost, the crew installed the Starboard 3 and 4 truss segment and conducted four spacewalks to activate it. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired an out of position thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system pod. Atlantis also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson. He replaced astronaut Suni Williams, who is the new record holder for a long-duration single spaceflight for a woman. She arrived at the station in December of 2006 with STS-116. STS-117 is the 118th shuttle mission and 21st mission to visit the space station. |
| Photo Date |
July 1, 2007 |
|
| Photo Description |
NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with the Space Shuttle Atlantis on top lifts off from Edwards Air Force Base to begin its ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The cross-country journey will take approximately two days, with stops at several intermediate points for refueling. |
| Project Description |
Space Shuttle Atlantis descended to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., concluding a successful assembly mission to the International Space Station. With Commander Rick Sturckow and Pilot Lee Archambault at the controls, Atlantis landed at 12:49 p.m. PDT on June 22, 2007. Atlantis launched June 8, 2007, and arrived at the International Space Station on June 10. While at the orbital outpost, the crew installed the Starboard 3 and 4 truss segment and conducted four spacewalks to activate it. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired an out of position thermal blanket on the left orbital maneuvering system pod. Atlantis also delivered a new station crew member, Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson. He replaced astronaut Suni Williams, who is the new record holder for a long-duration single spaceflight for a woman. She arrived at the station in December of 2006 with STS-116. STS-117 is the 118th shuttle mission and 21st mission to visit the space station. |
| Photo Date |
July 1, 2007 |
|
Drought in the Southern Unit
…
| Title |
Drought in the Southern United States |
| Description |
Rainfall across the United States in the winter of 2005-06 has shown the classic pattern of a La Niña event. La Niña is a climate anomaly (departure from average conditions) that consists of cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) across the central and eastern Pacific and warmer-than-average SSTs over the western Pacific. Changes in the atmospheric circulation occur during La Niña events, as well. These combined ocean-atmosphere changes are likely responsible for the drought in the Southwest, the South, the central Plains, and Florida that has led to several devastating wildfires this season. This image shows where daily rainfall was above and below average in the United States between October 2005 and January 2006 compared to the eight-year average for that time frame. Places where rainfall was above average are in blue and green, while places rainfall was below average are in orange and red. The data are from the Tropical-Rainfall-Measuring-Mission-based, near-real-time, Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The Pacific Northwest (green and blue areas), especially along the coast and over the coastal ranges of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington (blue areas) received more precipitation than usual. Almost the entire rest of the country, barring New England, had below-normal rainfall. The most intense rainfall deficits (orange and red areas) include the area stretching from Texas up through the central Plains and Upper Midwest, as well as the Gulf Coast, most of Florida, and along the southern Atlantic coast. In the Southwest, the rainfall deficit added to the stress of several years of below-average rainfall. Most of Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas, and central Oklahoma have received less than 25 percent of their normal rainfall for the period. The current La Niña is expected to persist for the next several months. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was launched in November 1997. It measures rainfall over the global tropics using both passive and active sensors, including the first precipitation radar in space. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
|
Hurricane Ernesto
| Title |
Hurricane Ernesto |
| Description |
Hurricane Ernesto formed in the eastern Caribbean Sea on August 24, 2006. Within a day, it had become organized enough to be classified as a tropical storm and get named as the fifth storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Ernesto. Ernesto built in power gradually as it moved westward and slightly north through the Caribbean Sea, just reaching hurricane strength on August 27 as it neared Hispaniola, the island on which the nations of Haiti and Dominican Republic are located. Ernesto was the first storm of the 2006 Atlantic season to reach hurricane strength. The storm's interaction with land robbed it of enough power to diminish it back to "tropical storm" status. Forecasts as of August 28 anticipate that Ernesto will remain at tropical storm status until after it crosses Cuba. If predictions made on August 28 hold true, the storm will travel most of the length of Cuba, then cross the Straits of Florida, possibly regaining enough power to become a hurricane again before coming ashore in southern Florida. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on August 27, 2006, at 11:50 a.m. local time (15:50 UTC). At the time of this image, Hurricane Ernesto was a well-developed storm system, but its interactions with Hispaniola had started to distort the hurricane enough to rob it of a well-defined eye. According to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center, [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html ] Ernesto had sustained peak winds of around 110 kilometers per hour (65 miles per hour) at the time Aqua MODIS acquired these data. The high-resolution image provided above is provided at the full MODIS spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2006239-0827/Ernesto.A2006239.1550 ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
|
Hurricane Ernesto
| Title |
Hurricane Ernesto |
| Description |
Hurricane Ernesto formed in the eastern Caribbean Sea on August 24, 2006. Within a day, it had become organized enough to be classified as a tropical storm and get named as the fifth storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. Ernesto built in power gradually as it moved westward and slightly north through the Caribbean Sea, just reaching hurricane strength on August 27 as it neared Hispaniola, the island on which the nations of Haiti and Dominican Republic are located. Ernesto was the first storm of the 2006 Atlantic season to reach hurricane strength. The storm's interaction with land robbed it of enough power to diminish it back to "tropical storm" status, but predictions as of August 29 are that favorable conditions north of Cuba may allow it to re-intensify to hurricane status before it comes ashore in southern Florida. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on August 28, 2006, at 2:00 p.m. local time (18:00 UTC). Tropical Storm Ernesto at the time of this image was a well-developed storm system, but its interactions with Hispaniola and Cuba had distorted the former hurricane, disrupting its shape enough to prevent the formation of a well-defined eye. The spiral-arm cloud structure was also not as distinct as it would be in a well-developed hurricane. According to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center, [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html ] Ernesto had sustained peak winds of around 65 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour) at the time Aqua MODIS acquired these data. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
|
Hurricane Ernesto
| Title |
Hurricane Ernesto |
| Description |
Tropical Storm Ernesto formed in the eastern Caribbean Sea on August 24, 2006. Within a day, it had become organized enough to be classified as a tropical storm and get named as the fifth storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. This photo-like image of Ernesto was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on August 30 2006, at 12:20 p.m. local time (16:20 UTC). Tropical Storm Ernesto at the time of this image was a distinctive spiral-shaped storm system, bringing rain to central Florida. According to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center, [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html ] Ernesto had sustained peak winds of around 55 kilometers per hour (35 miles per hour) at the time of this image. The high-resolution image provided above is provided at the full MODIS spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2006242-0830/Ernesto.A2006242.1620 ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
|
Hurricane Ernesto
| Title |
Hurricane Ernesto |
| Description |
On Sunday August 27, 2006, Ernesto became the first storm of the Atlantic season to reach hurricane intensity. Ernesto did not maintain hurricane intensity for long, however, and was soon downgraded back to a tropical storm after grazing the southwestern tip of Hispaniola. Ernesto formed from an easterly wave—a low-pressure ripple in the atmosphere—that moved west across the Atlantic and into the Caribbean. After passing through the Windward Islands, the wave developed into the fifth tropical depression of the year on August 24. This series of images shows the development of the storm. The earliest image (bottom image in the trilogy) shows the storm in the southeastern Caribbean soon after it had formed. The image was taken 10:41 p.m. local time on August 24, 2006, (02:41 UTC on August 25) by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. Rain rates in the center swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar, while those in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager. The rain rates are overlaid on infrared data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner. Scattered areas of light (blue) to moderate (green) rain and little evidence of classic hurricane organization reveal that the system was still in its early stages of development. The storm developed into Tropical Storm Ernesto the next day, when the middle image in the series was taken. As the system tracked west-northwest, it encountered southwesterly winds at higher altitudes, a pattern that tends to shear off the tops of developing storms and to prevent them from gathering strength. These winds kept the storm from gaining much strength despite warm sea surface temperatures. Warm water is the engine that drives tropical storms. When this image was taken at 7:34 a.m. local time (11:34 UTC) on August 26, Ernesto was passing south of the Dominican Republic. At that time, intense areas of rain were present within the storm (red areas). However, Ernesto still did not have a visible eye, nor a particularly well-developed circulation, the spiraling band of clouds typically associated with tropical storms and hurricanes. At that time, the National Hurricane Center [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ ], reported that Ernesto's maximum sustained winds were 74 kilometers per hour (46 miles per hour). Throughout the day, Ernesto continued to encounter high-altitude winds from the southwest that pushed the storm's top eastward, creating the elongated oval shape seen in the top image. This image was obtained at 10:24 p.m. local time on August 26 (02:24 UTC, August 27), when Ernesto was approaching Haiti. Although the center of the storm did not fall within the center of the TRMM instruments' fields of view, the rainfall pattern confirms that high-altitude winds were still confining the heaviest rains to the eastern side of the storm. At the time of this image, Ernesto's sustained winds were up slightly to 92 km/hr (58 mph). During the night of August 26, the shear across Ernesto finally eased off, and the storm responded by intensifying into a Category 1 hurricane. However, by this time, Ernesto was close to southwestern Haiti. Ernesto crossed the southwestern tip of Haiti on August 27, which caused it to weaken back to a tropical storm. Ernesto then continued northwest before making landfall in southeastern Cuba several hours later. As of August 29, Ernesto remained a somewhat disorganized tropical storm system. The storm was expected to reorganize as it left Cuba, but it was unclear if it would have enough time to develop back to hurricane strength before making a projected landfall in south Florida. The TRMM satellite was placed into service in November 1997. From its low-earth orbit, TRMM provides valuable images and information on storm systems around the tropics using a combination of passive microwave and active radar sensors, including the first precipitation radar in space. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Images produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
|
Hurricane Ernesto
| Title |
Hurricane Ernesto |
| Description |
shuttle launch information site. [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/index.html ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center., Tropical Storm Ernesto formed in the eastern Caribbean Sea on August 24, 2006. Within a day, it had become organized enough to be classified as a tropical storm and get named as the fifth storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. Ernesto built in power gradually as it moved westward and slightly north through the Caribbean Sea, just reaching hurricane strength as it neared Hispaniola on August 27. However, the interactions of the storm with land robbed Ernesto of enough power for it to be downgraded back to tropical-storm status. It remained a tropical storm as it passed over the southern tip of Haiti, traveled along the spine of mountains that run the length of Cuba, and crossed the Straits of Florida. Ernesto made landfall in southern Florida on August 30, and it was predicted head northeastward into the Atlantic and then come back ashore near the South Carolina-North Carolina border. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on August 28, 2006, at 2:00 p.m. local time (18:00 UTC). Tropical Storm Ernesto at the time of this image was a well-developed storm system, but its interactions with Hispaniola and Cuba had disrupted its shape enough to prevent the formation of a well-defined eye. The spiral-arm structure of clouds was also not as distinct as it would be in a well-developed hurricane. Thus, even as the storm was crossing the warm waters of the Straits of Florida, the storm still was unable to significantly re-intensify. According to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center, [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html ] Ernesto had sustained peak winds of around 75 kilometers per hour (45 miles per hour) at the time of this image. Before August 30, weather forecasters anticipated the storm could re-intensify into a hurricane in the Straits of Florida. With that forecast in hand, NASA mission planners opted to bring the Space Shuttle "Atlantis" off Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center where it was waiting for launch and into its hangar to protect it from potential damage. Partway through the transfer, the forecast changed as weather observations showed how severely Ernesto's interactions with the mountains of Cuba had disrupted the storm. Mission planners then reversed course and sent the shuttle back to its launch pad to resume preparations for a possible launch in the following week. When deciding whether to continue or delay launch preparations, mission teams have to balance safety concerns, launch-window opportunities, and the schedule for construction of the International Space Station. You can read more about shuttle operations and launch schedules, including details of STS-115, the flight to resume construction on the International Space Station, at the Kennedy Space Flight Center |
|
Initial Conditions for the 2
…
| Title |
Initial Conditions for the 2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season |
| Description |
June 1 marks the first official day of hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. In 2006, conditions in the Atlantic were "hurricane friendly," said NASA scientist David Adamec, and not quite as extreme as they had been at the opening of the 2005 hurricane season. Hurricanes need both warm sea surface temperatures and calm winds to develop. Warm water provides both heat and humidity needed for storm formation. Strong winds would tear a developing storm apart, while calm winds allow a hurricane to build. In late May 2006, sea surface temperatures were warmer than normal, and winds were calm. These images contrast sea surface temperatures on May 30, 2006, top, and May 30, 2005, bottom, as measured by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E [ http://www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/AMSR/ ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. Red colors show regions where waters were warmer than the twelve-year average (1985-1997), while blue indicates cooler-than-average temperatures. White indicates average temperatures. In 2006, temperatures in the Atlantic were slightly warmer than average, particularly in the Caribbean, but strong southwest trade winds stirred the Gulf of Mexico, keeping the surface waters cool, said Adamec. In 2005, by contrast, the entire hurricane-prone section of the Atlantic was much warmer than average. In fact, at the opening of the 2006 hurricane season, sea surface temperatures were 2 degrees cooler than they had been at opening of the 2005 season, said Adamec. The warm temperatures in 2005 allowed a record seven storms to form by the end of July, one of which, Hurricane Emily, set records when it became the first category 5 hurricane to occur in July. All other Atlantic storms of that strength have developed later in the season. Though sea surface temperatures were not as extreme at the opening of the 2006 hurricane season as they were in 2005, the National Hurricane Center predicts a very active hurricane season with 13 to 16 named storms, 4 to 6 of which could become major hurricanes. The other major difference between conditions in 2005 and conditions in 2006 is the position of the Bermuda High, a semi-permanent high-pressure system that sits over the Central Atlantic. Hurricanes that form in the Atlantic tend to circle the Bermuda High. In 2004 and 2005, the Bermuda High expanded to the south and west, pushing storms into the Gulf of Mexico and Florida. But as of May 31, 2006, the Bermuda High remained small and in a position that would steer storms up the East Coast of the United States or out into the Atlantic. Sea Surface Temperature data from the Advanced Microwave Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E), courtesy Remote Sensing Systems [ http://www.ssmi.com/ ] |
|
Initial Conditions for the 2
…
| Title |
Initial Conditions for the 2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season |
| Description |
June 1 marks the first official day of hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. In 2006, conditions in the Atlantic were "hurricane friendly," said NASA scientist David Adamec, and not quite as extreme as they had been at the opening of the 2005 hurricane season. Hurricanes need both warm sea surface temperatures and calm winds to develop. Warm water provides both heat and humidity needed for storm formation. Strong winds would tear a developing storm apart, while calm winds allow a hurricane to build. In late May 2006, sea surface temperatures were warmer than normal, and winds were calm. These images contrast sea surface temperatures on May 30, 2006, top, and May 30, 2005, bottom, as measured by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E [ http://www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/AMSR/ ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. Red colors show regions where waters were warmer than the twelve-year average (1985-1997), while blue indicates cooler-than-average temperatures. White indicates average temperatures. In 2006, temperatures in the Atlantic were slightly warmer than average, particularly in the Caribbean, but strong southwest trade winds stirred the Gulf of Mexico, keeping the surface waters cool, said Adamec. In 2005, by contrast, the entire hurricane-prone section of the Atlantic was much warmer than average. In fact, at the opening of the 2006 hurricane season, sea surface temperatures were 2 degrees cooler than they had been at opening of the 2005 season, said Adamec. The warm temperatures in 2005 allowed a record seven storms to form by the end of July, one of which, Hurricane Emily, set records when it became the first category 5 hurricane to occur in July. All other Atlantic storms of that strength have developed later in the season. Though sea surface temperatures were not as extreme at the opening of the 2006 hurricane season as they were in 2005, the National Hurricane Center predicts a very active hurricane season with 13 to 16 named storms, 4 to 6 of which could become major hurricanes. The other major difference between conditions in 2005 and conditions in 2006 is the position of the Bermuda High, a semi-permanent high-pressure system that sits over the Central Atlantic. Hurricanes that form in the Atlantic tend to circle the Bermuda High. In 2004 and 2005, the Bermuda High expanded to the south and west, pushing storms into the Gulf of Mexico and Florida. But as of May 31, 2006, the Bermuda High remained small and in a position that would steer storms up the East Coast of the United States or out into the Atlantic. Sea Surface Temperature data from the Advanced Microwave Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E), courtesy Remote Sensing Systems [ http://www.ssmi.com/ ] |
|
El Nino Rainfall Patterns ov
…
| Title |
El Nino Rainfall Patterns over the United States |
| Description |
An anomalous warming of the central and eastern Pacific along the equator is part of a well-known climate event called El Niño. An El Niño began in the spring of 2006 and reached its peak in November and December. El Niño has far reaching effects. The anomalous warming of sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific affects general atmospheric circulation patterns, which impacts both temperature and precipitation patterns well into middle latitudes. Deviations in the rainfall patterns across the United States due to El Niño are well-established based on past events. The northern Gulf Coast experiences above-average rainfall, as do California and the Southwest due to a stronger-than-average subtropical jet stream. The Ohio Valley and the Northwest tend to see below-normal rainfall. These deviations from the normal rainfall pattern are illustrated in this image, made from the near-real-time, Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA), which is produced at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, based in part on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ]) satellite. MPA rainfall anomalies across the United States are shown here for December 25, 2006, through January 25, 2007. The anomalies are obtained by subtracting the average rainfall from the recent values. The average rainfall measurements are based on data collected since TRMM's launch in November 1997. Several of the notable features associated with El Niño are evident. The northern Gulf Coast west of Florida is wetter than average as is southern California. The Four Corners region in the Southwest is also very moist, which is typical for El Niño. Drier-than-normal conditions are evident over the Ohio Valley. There are some exceptions to the expected El Niño rainfall patterns, however. Montana, for example, is usually drier than average during El Niño but appears relatively moist, and Florida is usually wetter than average but shows below-normal rainfall for the period. Also, the dry anomaly in the Northwest is concentrated over northern California instead of spreading over Washington and Oregon as might be expected. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
|
Fires in Cuba
| Title |
Fires in Cuba |
| Description |
Several fires were burning in western Cuba on May 7, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image. The fires, outlined in red, generated a thick plume of smoke, which drifted north over the Florida Keys. Fire is used extensively as an agricultural tool in Cuba, but natural forest fires occur as well. Fire season runs from March to May in Cuba, and ends when the rainy season begins in May. The large image provided above has a resolution of 250 meters per pixel. It is available in additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?AERONET_Dry_Tortugas/2006127 ] from the MODIS Rapid Response Team. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Fires in Florida
| Title |
Fires in Florida |
| Description |
A number of wildfires burned in Eastern Florida on May 7, 2006, clouding the skies with smoke. At 6,000 acres, the largest of the fires was the Areca Fire burning in palmetto, pines, and grasses along the Interstate-95 corridor. Smoke from the fires closed roads in the region, including the Interstate, and forced about 1,000 people from their homes, reported CNN. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image of the Areca Fire at 2:55 p.m. (EDT). The fire itself is outlined in red, and a thick plume of smoke blows east over the Atlantic Ocean. The National Interagency Fire Center said that the Areca Fire was 80 percent contained as of May 8. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Fires in Florida
| Title |
Fires in Florida |
| Description |
Multiple wildfires have been burning in Florida throughout early May 2006. This image of the area around Lake Okeechobee in central Florida was captured on May 14 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite. Locations of actively burning fires that MODIS detected are outlined in red. South of the lake, the Berg Fire had burned nearly 30,000 acres as of May 17, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The fire to the north of the lake is the OK-KPSP-757 Fire. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/ ] of the area (via a clickable map) in a variety of resolutions and formats. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
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 |
|
Fires in the Southern United
…
| Title |
Fires in the Southern United States |
| Description |
In the southern United States on March 5, 2006, a number of fires were puffing small plumes of smoke that created hazy conditions across the region. This image of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite. Places where the sensor detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. In Alabama, several individual puffs of smoke are visible in locations where the sensor did not detect a fire. This may be because those fires were not hot enough or large enough for the sensor to register them as "hot spots." A swath of haze lingers over the Gulf of Mexico at lower right. At lower left is the Mississippi River Delta. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Tropical Storm Alberto
| Title |
Tropical Storm Alberto |
| Description |
Tropical Storm Alberto formed as a tropical depression early in the morning on June 10, 2006, in the Yucatan Channel. Alberto gradually gathered strength as it took a slow track northward into the Gulf. By early morning on June 11, wind strength within the storm crossed the critical threshold of 39 knots (70 kilometers per hour, 45 miles per hour). Thus Alberto became the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. Although Alberto briefly flirted with hurricane status as wind speeds came close to the necessary 64 knots (118 km/hr, 74 mph), the system remained a strong tropical storm as of the morning of June 13, and it was projected to weaken as it comes ashore in northern Florida. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on June 12, 2006, at 2:35 p.m. local time (18:35 UTC). The tropical storm did have hints of a spiral structure, but as in earlier satellite images, the bulk of the clouds and rainfall from the storm were east of the storm's center. This large mass of clouds in the image appears over the Florida panhandle and mainland Florida, while the wind circulation center is located roughly 200 kilometers (120 miles) to the west of Tampa. Sustained winds in the storm system were estimated to be around 110 kilometers per hour (70 miles per hour) around the time the image was captured, according to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center. [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html ] However, the less-than-hurricane-strength winds did not mean that Alberto posed no significant hazards. Rainfall totals from the storm were predicted to be between 12 to 25 centimeters (5 to 10 inches), and the storm center was also expected to spawn tornadoes once Alberto crossed land. Drought-stricken Florida was looking for rain, but the heavy downpours predicted were also causing concerns about local flooding. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
|
Tropical Storm Alberto
| Title |
Tropical Storm Alberto |
| Description |
Tropical Storm Alberto formed as a tropical depression early in the morning on June 10, 2006, in the Yucatan Channel. By early morning on June 11, wind strength within the storm crossed the critical threshold of 39 knots (70 kilometers per hour, 45 miles per hour), the minimum wind speed necessary to become classified as a tropical storm and hence earn a name. Thus Alberto became the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. Alberto briefly flirted with hurricane status as wind speeds came close to the necessary 64 knots (118 km/hr, 74 mph), but the storm never quite reached hurricane strength. As of the morning of June 14, it had come ashore in northern Florida and had been downgraded to a tropical depression. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on June 13, 2006, at 12:05 p.m. local time (16:05 UTC). The tropical storm at this time had an obvious a spiral structure, but the main mass of clouds was located ahead of the storm to the north and east. The storm was just half an hour from making landfall near Adams Beach, roughly 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Tallahassee. Sustained winds in the storm system were estimated to be around 80 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour) around the time the image was captured, according to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center. [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html ] Rainfall totals from the storm were predicted to be as high as 20 centimeters (8 inches) in Georgia and the Carolinas. Drought-stricken Florida was looking for rain, but the heavy downpours predicted were also causing concerns about local flooding. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
|
Tropical Storm Alberto
| Title |
Tropical Storm Alberto |
| Description |
Tropical Storm Alberto formed as a tropical depression early in the morning on June 10, 2006, in the Yucatan Channel. This narrow gap of ocean lies between the western end of Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico. Alberto gradually gathered strength as it took a slow track northward into the Gulf. By early morning on June 11, wind strength within the storm crossed the critical threshold of 39 knots (70 kilometers per hour, 45 miles per hour), the minimum wind speed necessary to become classified as a tropical storm and hence earn a name. Thus Alberto became the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on June 11 2006, at 12:20 p.m. local time (16:20 UTC). The tropical storm did have a wispy spiral structure, centered north of the Yucatan Peninsula in this satellite image, but there was little other evidence of a well-developed storm. To the east of the storm center, a large bank of clouds sprawled over the eastern Gulf of Mexico and southern Florida. Sustained winds in the storm system were estimated to be around 70 kilometers per hour (45 miles per hour) around the time the image was captured, according to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center. [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html ] However, the less-than-hurricane-strength winds did not mean that Alberto posed no significant hazards. Rainfall totals from the storm were predicted to be between 12 to 25 centimeters (5 to 10 inches), and the storm center was also expected to spawn tornadoes once Alberto crossed land. Drought-stricken Florida was looking for rain, but the heavy downpours predicted were also causing concerns about local flooding. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
|
Tropical Storm Alberto
| Title |
Tropical Storm Alberto |
| Description |
Alberto, the first storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, made landfall midday on June 13, 2006, along a remote section of the northeast Gulf coast of Florida. As the storm moved inland across north Florida, southeast Georgia, and South and North Carolina, it brought with it heavy but much-needed rain. Wild fires have been a problem across Florida, and the Southeast had been dry in general, so Alberto's rains were beneficial. This image shows rainfall totals from Alberto from June 10 through 14, 2006, for Florida and the surrounding region. The image is based on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. The highest rainfall totals for the period (shown in red) were around 400 to 500 millimeters (14 to 20 inches), and they occurred over western Cuba. Widespread areas of rain cover Florida, Georgia, and South and North Carolina. Amounts in those areas are mostly less than 75 millimeters (5 inches), shown in blue. A band of 80 to 100 millimeters (6 to 8 inches) of rain (green and yellow areas) extends from central South Carolina eastward across eastern North Carolina. After making landfall, Alberto's circulation interacted with a stationary weather front that was draped across the Southeast. The bulk of the rain fell east of the storm track. This is consistent with Alberto's asymmetric structure due to the wind shear. The TRMM satellite was placed into service in November of 1997. From its low-earth orbit, TRMM has been providing valuable images and information on tropical cyclones around the tropics using a combination of passive microwave and active radar sensors, including the first precipitation radar in space. TRMM's observations are included in the near-real-time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) produced at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Images produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
|
Tropical Storm Alberto
| Title |
Tropical Storm Alberto |
| Description |
Alberto began as a tropical depression on the morning of June 10, 2006, having formed from an area of low air pressure over the northwestern Caribbean Sea. This depression moved generally northwestward through the Yucatan Channel between western Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula and into the south-central Gulf of Mexico. The system was rather poorly organized as a result of southwesterly wind shear. This shear pulled the weather system from the rounded shape of a typical tropical storm and gave Alberto an elongated center of circulation. Nonetheless, hurricane hunter aircraft and ships reported strong winds, and on that basis, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) classified the system as a tropical storm and gave it the name Alberto at 11:00 a.m. EDT on June 11. This visualization shows data collected by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite (TRMM) at 19:42 UTC (3:42 p.m. EDT) on June 11, 2006, soon after Alberto had become a tropical storm. It maps rain intensity as viewed by the TRMM satellite. Rain rates in the center swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar, and rain rates in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager. The rain rates are overlaid on infrared data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner. TRMM confirms that Alberto was poorly organized. The center of circulation is well to the southwest of the heavier rain areas (darker red and green areas). In fact, there is essentially no rain in the immediate vicinity of the center. This highly asymmetric structure results from wind shear. At the time of this image, Alberto was a weak tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 70 kilometers per hour (45 miles per hour). After these images were taken, however, the wind shear pushing the storm off center decreased, allowing Alberto to become better organized. On June 12, Alberto had become a strong tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 km/hr (70 mph) according to the NHC, just below hurricane strength. The system was continuing to track to the northeast towards the coast of Florida, where a hurricane watch was in effect. TRMM was launched in November 1997. From its low-earth orbit, TRMM has been providing valuable images and information on tropical weather systems using a combination of passive microwave and active radar sensors, including the first precipitation radar in space. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Images produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
|
Both Solar Arrays Open on Ph
…
| title |
Both Solar Arrays Open on Phoenix Mars Lander |
| Description |
NASA's next Mars-bound spacecraft, the Phoenix Mars Lander, was partway through assembly and testing at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver,in September 2006, progressing toward an August 2007 launch from Florida. In this photograph, spacecraft specialists work on the lander after its fan-like circular solar arrays have been spread open for testing. The arrays will be in this configuration when the spacecraft is active on the surface of Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL/UA/Lockheed Martin |
|
Tropical Storm Alberto: Natu
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Tropical Storm Alberto forme
…
alberto_tmo_2006162
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-06-11 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
alberto_tmo_2006162 |
|
Advanced Weather Satellite G
…
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
At 6:11 p.m., Eastern Daylig
…
launch_goe_2006114
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-05-24 |
| creator |
NASA -- Photographs courtesy Carleton Bailie |
| identifier |
launch_goe_2006114 |
|
Tropical Storm Alberto: Imag
…
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
Alberto began as a tropical
…
alberto_trmm_2006162
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-06-11 |
| creator |
NASA -- Images produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
| identifier |
alberto_trmm_2006162 |
|
Dust Dampens Hurricane Forma
…
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
After 2005's record hurrican
…
ge_07598
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data processed and provided by Chelle Gentemann and Frank Wentz, remss.com/ Remote Sensing Systems. Tropical storm and hurricane tracks provided by the University of Hawaii's www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html Tropical Storm Information Center. |
| identifier |
ge_07598 |
|
Dust Dampens Hurricane Forma
…
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
After 2005's record hurrican
…
ge_07598
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data processed and provided by Chelle Gentemann and Frank Wentz, remss.com/ Remote Sensing Systems. Tropical storm and hurricane tracks provided by the University of Hawaii's www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html Tropical Storm Information Center. |
| identifier |
ge_07598 |
|
|
