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Stellar Wind Disruption by a …
Title Stellar Wind Disruption by an Orbiting Neutron Star: Low X-Ray Luminosity
Abstract A tiny neutron star orbits incessantly around a massive star with a diameter a million times larger than its own. The high luminosity of the massive star drives a strong wind from its surface. The neutron star crashes through this wind at over 300 kilometers per second. The gravity and X-ray luminosity of the neutron star act to disrupt the wind, producing an extended wake of dense gas trailing behind the neutron star. This simulation, in the reference frame of the neutron star, shows conditions of low X-ray luminosity. in which there is a small accretion radius, a slight asymmetry, and short timescales for variability. The numerical simulations depicted here were computed using the Cray X-MP 48 at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Completed 1990-07-10
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Sears Tower
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground.
Completed 2001-04-10
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Sears Tower
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground.
Completed 2001-04-10
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Sears Tower
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground.
Completed 2001-04-10
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Sears Tower
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground.
Completed 2001-04-10
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Sears Tower
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground.
Completed 2001-04-10
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Sears Tower
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground.
Completed 2001-04-10
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Sears Tower
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground.
Completed 2001-04-10
Stellar Wind Disruption by a …
Title Stellar Wind Disruption by an Orbiting Neutron Star
Abstract A tiny neutron star orbits incessantly around a massive star with a diameter a million times larger than its own. The high luminosity of the massive star drives a strong wind from its surface. The neutron star crashes through this wind at over 300 kilometers per second. The gravity and X-ray luminosity of the neutron star act to disrupt the wind, producing an extended wake of dense gas trailing behind the neutron star. The numerical simulations depicted here were computed using the Cray X-MP 48 at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Completed 1990-07-10
Tidal Streams in Massive X-r …
Title Tidal Streams in Massive X-ray Binary Systems
Abstract A tiny neutron star orbits incessantly around a massive star with a diameter a million times larger than its own. The high luminosity of the massive star drives a strong wind from its surface. The neutron star crashes through this wind at over 300 kilometers per second. The gravity and X-ray luminosity of the neutron star act to disrupt the wind, producing an extended wake of dense gas trailing behind the neutron star. In this simulation, the tidal distortion of the primary star and the resultant tidal stream is shown. The numerical simulations depicted here were computed using the Cray X-MP 48 at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Completed 1990-07-10
Neutron Star Collision
Title Neutron Star Collision
Abstract Systems of orbiting neutron stars are born when the cores of two old stars collapse in supernova explosions. Neutron stars have the mass of our Sun but are the size of a city, so dense that boundaries between atoms disappear. Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that the orbit shrinks from ripples of space-time called gravitational waves. After about 1 billion simulation years, the two neutron stars closely circle each other at 60,000 revolutions per minute. The stars finally merge in a few milliseconds, sending out a burst of gravitational waves.
Completed 1999-01-21
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Adler Planetarium
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was built in 1930 by philanthropist Max Adler. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Soldier Field.
Completed 2006-11-03
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Adler Planetarium
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was built in 1930 by philanthropist Max Adler. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Soldier Field.
Completed 2006-11-03
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Adler Planetarium
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was built in 1930 by philanthropist Max Adler. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Soldier Field.
Completed 2006-11-03
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Adler Planetarium
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was built in 1930 by philanthropist Max Adler. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Soldier Field.
Completed 2006-11-03
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Adler Planetarium
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was built in 1930 by philanthropist Max Adler. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Soldier Field.
Completed 2006-11-03
Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: …
Title Great Zoom into Chicago, IL: The Adler Planetarium
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was built in 1930 by philanthropist Max Adler. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Soldier Field.
Completed 2006-11-03
Stellar Wind Disruption by a …
Title Stellar Wind Disruption by an Orbiting Neutron Star: Neutron Star Close-up
Abstract A tiny neutron star orbits incessantly around a massive star with a diameter a million times larger than its own. The high luminosity of the massive star drives a strong wind from its surface. The neutron star crashes through this wind at over 300 kilometers per second. The gravity and X-ray luminosity of the neutron star act to disrupt the wind, producing an extended wake of dense gas trailing behind the neutron star. The large scale structure seen in the accretion wake is powered by the release of gravitational potential energy near the surface of the neutron star. The numerical simulations depicted here were computed using the Cray X-MP 48 at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Completed 1990-07-10
Great Zoom out of Chicago, I …
Title Great Zoom out of Chicago, IL: The Sears Tower
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground.
Completed 2001-04-10
Stellar Wind Disruption by a …
Title Stellar Wind Disruption by an Orbiting Neutron Star: High X-Ray Luminosity
Abstract A tiny neutron star orbits incessantly around a massive star with a diameter a million times larger than its own. The high luminosity of the massive star drives a strong wind from its surface. The neutron star crashes through this wind at over 300 kilometers per second. The gravity and X-ray luminosity of the neutron star act to disrupt the wind, producing an extended wake of dense gas trailing behind the neutron star. This simulation, in the reference frame of the neutron star, shows conditions of high X-ray luminosity. in which there is a weak bowshock, no oscillation, and a large photoionization wake. The numerical simulations depicted here were computed using the Cray X-MP 48 at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Completed 1990-07-10
Stellar Wind Disruption by a …
Title Stellar Wind Disruption by an Orbiting Neutron Star: Moderate X-Ray Luminosity
Abstract A tiny neutron star orbits incessantly around a massive star with a diameter a million times larger than its own. The high luminosity of the massive star drives a strong wind from its surface. The neutron star crashes through this wind at over 300 kilometers per second. The gravity and X-ray luminosity of the neutron star act to disrupt the wind, producing an extended wake of dense gas trailing behind the neutron star. This simulation, in the reference frame of the neutron star, shows conditions of low X-ray luminosity. in which there is a large accretion radius, significant asymmetry, and long timescales for variability. The numerical simulations depicted here were computed using the Cray X-MP 48 at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Completed 1990-07-10
Great Zoom out of Chicago, I …
Title Great Zoom out of Chicago, IL: The Adler Planetarium
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was built in 1930 by philanthropist Max Adler. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Soldier Field.
Completed 2006-11-03
Great Zoom out of Chicago, I …
Title Great Zoom out of Chicago, IL: The Adler Planetarium
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was built in 1930 by philanthropist Max Adler. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Soldier Field.
Completed 2006-11-03
Great Zoom out of Chicago, I …
Title Great Zoom out of Chicago, IL: The Adler Planetarium
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was built in 1930 by philanthropist Max Adler. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Soldier Field.
Completed 2006-11-03
Great Zoom out of Chicago, I …
Title Great Zoom out of Chicago, IL: The Adler Planetarium
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was built in 1930 by philanthropist Max Adler. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Soldier Field.
Completed 2006-11-03
Great Zoom out of Chicago, I …
Title Great Zoom out of Chicago, IL: The Adler Planetarium
Abstract Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was built in 1930 by philanthropist Max Adler. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, and Soldier Field.
Completed 2006-11-03
Before and During the Great …
Title Before and During the Great Mississippi Flood of 1993
Abstract During the first half of 1993, heavy rains in the midwest United States caused the greatest flood ever recorded on the Upper Mississippi. The Mississippi River remained above flood stage from April through September of that year, and many of the dykes and water control systems along the rivers in this region were overwhelmed. These images from the Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper clearly show the flooded regions near St. Louis. The pink areas near the flooded regions show the scoured land from which the flood waters have receded. A comparison of the image during the flood with an image from a year before clearly shows the preponderance of cultivated fields in the lowland flooded region, evidence that floods and river meanderings have deposited rich soil in these regions in the past.
Completed 2006-04-04
Full Screen Version of Misso …
Title Full Screen Version of Missouri River before Flood
Completed 1999-04-09
Full Screen Version of Misso …
Title Full Screen Version of Missouri River before Flood
Completed 1999-04-09
Full Screen Version of Misso …
Title Full Screen Version of Missouri River before Flood
Completed 1999-04-09
Full Screen Version of Misso …
Title Full Screen Version of Missouri River before Flood
Completed 1999-04-09
Mississippi River near St. L …
Title Mississippi River near St. Louis, November, 1993
Abstract Mississippi River near St. Louis, November, 1993 (several months after the peak of the floods), Thematic Mapper bands 5, 4, and 2 were used.
Completed 1999-04-09
Mississippi River near St. L …
Title Mississippi River near St. Louis, November, 1993
Abstract Mississippi River near St. Louis, November, 1993 (several months after the peak of the floods), Thematic Mapper bands 5, 4, and 2 were used.
Completed 1999-04-09
Mississippi River near St. L …
Title Mississippi River near St. Louis, November, 1993
Abstract Mississippi River near St. Louis, November, 1993 (several months after the peak of the floods), Thematic Mapper bands 5, 4, and 2 were used.
Completed 1999-04-09
Mississippi River near St. L …
Title Mississippi River near St. Louis, November, 1993
Abstract Mississippi River near St. Louis, November, 1993 (several months after the peak of the floods), Thematic Mapper bands 5, 4, and 2 were used.
Completed 1999-04-09
Floods in the Midwestern Uni …
Title Floods in the Midwestern United States
Description Water levels on the Blanchard River in northwestern Ohio reached near-record levels a short time after the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, on August 22, 2007. At 1:00 p.m., National Weather Service gauges [ http://newweb.erh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=cle&gage=fdyo1&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1&toggles=10,7,8,2,9,15,6 ] in Findlay, Ohio, recorded water levels of 18.46 feet, just under six and a half inches short of the record crest of 18.5 feet set on March 13, 1913. In both cases, the river rose more than seven feet above its flood stage of 11 feet. The August 22 flood swamped the city of Findlay, forcing hundreds from their homes and putting the city in a state of emergency, reported the Associated Press on August 23. The disastrous floods along the Blanchard River can be seen in the top image. The image was made with a combination of visible and infrared light to increase the contrast between water and land. Water is dark blue or black, while plant-covered land is bright green. Tiny squares of plant-free land, most like fallow fields in this case, are tan. Cities are gray, looking like a dark smudge against the bright green landscape. Lingering clouds are light blue and white. The severity of the flood can be gauged by comparing the top image with the lower image, which was taken on August 13, 2007. In the lower image, the Blanchard River is too small to be visible. By August 22, the river and many of its tributaries are clearly visible. The river expands over Findlay, and then bends south. Ohio was not the only state that experienced floods in mid-August. A string of severe thunderstorms [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14462 ] dumped heavy rain on several Midwest states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. At the same time, the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14454 ] triggered deadly flooding in Oklahoma and Texas. These images are shown at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3/2007234 ] of the U.S. Midwest are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in a variety of resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Floods in the Midwestern Uni …
Title Floods in the Midwestern United States
Description Water levels on the Blanchard River in northwestern Ohio reached near-record levels a short time after the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, on August 22, 2007. At 1:00 p.m., National Weather Service gauges [ http://newweb.erh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=cle&gage=fdyo1&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1&toggles=10,7,8,2,9,15,6 ] in Findlay, Ohio, recorded water levels of 18.46 feet, just under six and a half inches short of the record crest of 18.5 feet set on March 13, 1913. In both cases, the river rose more than seven feet above its flood stage of 11 feet. The August 22 flood swamped the city of Findlay, forcing hundreds from their homes and putting the city in a state of emergency, reported the Associated Press on August 23. The disastrous floods along the Blanchard River can be seen in the top image. The image was made with a combination of visible and infrared light to increase the contrast between water and land. Water is dark blue or black, while plant-covered land is bright green. Tiny squares of plant-free land, most like fallow fields in this case, are tan. Cities are gray, looking like a dark smudge against the bright green landscape. Lingering clouds are light blue and white. The severity of the flood can be gauged by comparing the top image with the lower image, which was taken on August 13, 2007. In the lower image, the Blanchard River is too small to be visible. By August 22, the river and many of its tributaries are clearly visible. The river expands over Findlay, and then bends south. Ohio was not the only state that experienced floods in mid-August. A string of severe thunderstorms [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14462 ] dumped heavy rain on several Midwest states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. At the same time, the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14454 ] triggered deadly flooding in Oklahoma and Texas. These images are shown at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3/2007234 ] of the U.S. Midwest are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in a variety of resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Floods in the Ohio River Val …
Title Floods in the Ohio River Valley
Description Heavy rain and snow had swollen the rivers of Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, pushing many past flood stage during the first two weeks of January 2005. The flooding occurred after several days of rain and snow fell on the already saturated ground of the U.S. Midwest. Since the water could not be absorbed into the soaked ground, it ran off as flood water. The storms were followed by warm temperatures, which melted the snow and produced further flooding. By January 17, some of the flooding had started to recede, but large tracts of land along the Ohio and Wabash Rivers were still under water. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flying aboard NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image of the flooded rivers on January 17. The Ohio and Wabash Rivers are the most noticeably flooded, but many other rivers are also much larger than they were on November 25, 2004. On November 25, the Wabash River measured less than 3 pixels across in the 500-meter-resolution MODIS image (the large image provided above). On January 17, the river spanned 18 pixels at its widest point, increasing its width from approximately 1.5 kilometers to 9 kilometers. The Ohio River similarly grew to a width of 13.5 kilometers in the top image. Floods along the Ohio are not unusual, but the timing of this flood was. The Ohio River and its tributaries often flood in the spring when winter's snow melts and runs into regional rivers. This flood, however, occurred in the middle of the winter, which is unusual. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. The images are available in additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3 ].
Floods in the Ohio River Val …
Title Floods in the Ohio River Valley
Description Heavy rain and snow had swollen the rivers of Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, pushing many past flood stage during the first two weeks of January 2005. The flooding occurred after several days of rain and snow fell on the already saturated ground of the U.S. Midwest. Since the water could not be absorbed into the soaked ground, it ran off as flood water. The storms were followed by warm temperatures, which melted the snow and produced further flooding. By January 17, some of the flooding had started to recede, but large tracts of land along the Ohio and Wabash Rivers were still under water. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flying aboard NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image of the flooded rivers on January 17. The Ohio and Wabash Rivers are the most noticeably flooded, but many other rivers are also much larger than they were on November 25, 2004. On November 25, the Wabash River measured less than 3 pixels across in the 500-meter-resolution MODIS image (the large image provided above). On January 17, the river spanned 18 pixels at its widest point, increasing its width from approximately 1.5 kilometers to 9 kilometers. The Ohio River similarly grew to a width of 13.5 kilometers in the top image. Floods along the Ohio are not unusual, but the timing of this flood was. The Ohio River and its tributaries often flood in the spring when winter's snow melts and runs into regional rivers. This flood, however, occurred in the middle of the winter, which is unusual. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. The images are available in additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3 ].
Floods in the Southern and M …
Title Floods in the Southern and Midwestern United States
Description At the point where Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana meet, the Wabash River flows into the Ohio River, which in turn will eventually feed the Mississippi River. The two rivers are susceptible to flooding in the winter and spring, and by the end of January 2007, the confluence of the Wabash and the Ohio bulged with water. The floods came after a series of winter storms pummeled the Midwest United States in mid-January. The effect of the storms on the rivers is clear from this pair of false-color images, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The images are made with a combination and infrared and visible light, which makes water much more visible than it would be in a photo-like image. In this combination of wavelengths, water is dark blue or black, plant-covered land is green, sparsely vegetated or bare ground is tan-pink, and burned ground is red-brown. Icy clouds are light blue, while water clouds are white. The top image was take on January 23, 2007, shortly after the storm clouds cleared. Compared to the lower image, which was taken on January 2, the Wabash, Ohio, and Little Wabash Rivers are all swollen. By January 25, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3/2007025 ] the floods appeared to be receding. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3/2007025 ] of the Midwest are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Floods in the Southern and M …
Title Floods in the Southern and Midwestern United States
Description At the point where Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana meet, the Wabash River flows into the Ohio River, which in turn will eventually feed the Mississippi River. The two rivers are susceptible to flooding in the winter and spring, and by the end of January 2007, the confluence of the Wabash and the Ohio bulged with water. The floods came after a series of winter storms pummeled the Midwest United States in mid-January. The effect of the storms on the rivers is clear from this pair of false-color images, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The images are made with a combination and infrared and visible light, which makes water much more visible than it would be in a photo-like image. In this combination of wavelengths, water is dark blue or black, plant-covered land is green, sparsely vegetated or bare ground is tan-pink, and burned ground is red-brown. Icy clouds are light blue, while water clouds are white. The top image was take on January 23, 2007, shortly after the storm clouds cleared. Compared to the lower image, which was taken on January 2, the Wabash, Ohio, and Little Wabash Rivers are all swollen. By January 25, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3/2007025 ] the floods appeared to be receding. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3/2007025 ] of the Midwest are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Floods in the U.S. Midwest
Title Floods in the U.S. Midwest
Description *Floods in the U.S. Midwest* Heavy rain and snow on January 4 and 5, 2004, have left swollen rivers throughout the U.S. Midwest. Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky are shown in these false-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) images where water is black, vegetation is green, and clouds are white and peach. In the top image, taken on January 7, 2004, by the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, the Ohio, Wabash, and White Rivers are noticeably wider compared to an image acquired just one week earlier. The Ohio and the Wabash Rivers form a ?v? in the center of the image, with the Ohio River on the south. Near the top of the image, the White River branches off of the Wabash River. Other area rivers also appear to be fuller. The states affected by the floods include Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. According to news reports, the flood waters are covering mostly farmland, though houses and roads were also flooded. Cold temperatures followed the storm, making clean-up difficult. The high-resolution images provided above have a resolution of 500 meters per pixel. Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC
Floods in the U.S. Midwest
Title Floods in the U.S. Midwest
Description *Floods in the U.S. Midwest* Heavy rain and snow on January 4 and 5, 2004, have left swollen rivers throughout the U.S. Midwest. Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky are shown in these false-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) images where water is black, vegetation is green, and clouds are white and peach. In the top image, taken on January 7, 2004, by the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, the Ohio, Wabash, and White Rivers are noticeably wider compared to an image acquired just one week earlier. The Ohio and the Wabash Rivers form a ?v? in the center of the image, with the Ohio River on the south. Near the top of the image, the White River branches off of the Wabash River. Other area rivers also appear to be fuller. The states affected by the floods include Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. According to news reports, the flood waters are covering mostly farmland, though houses and roads were also flooded. Cold temperatures followed the storm, making clean-up difficult. The high-resolution images provided above have a resolution of 500 meters per pixel. Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC
Floods in the U.S. Midwest
Title Floods in the U.S. Midwest
Description *Floods in the U.S. Midwest* Heavy rain and snow on January 4 and 5, 2004, have left swollen rivers throughout the U.S. Midwest. Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky are shown in these false-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) images where water is black, vegetation is green, and clouds are white and peach. In the top image, taken on January 7, 2004, by the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, the Ohio, Wabash, and White Rivers are noticeably wider compared to an image acquired just one week earlier. The Ohio and the Wabash Rivers form a ?v? in the center of the image, with the Ohio River on the south. Near the top of the image, the White River branches off of the Wabash River. Other area rivers also appear to be fuller. The states affected by the floods include Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. According to news reports, the flood waters are covering mostly farmland, though houses and roads were also flooded. Cold temperatures followed the storm, making clean-up difficult. The high-resolution images provided above have a resolution of 500 meters per pixel. Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC
Cloud Heights of Frances and …
Title Cloud Heights of Frances and Ivan
Description NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer [ http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov ] (MISR) captured these images and cloud-top height retrievals of Hurricane Frances on September 4, 2004, when the eye sat just off the coast of eastern Florida, and Hurricane Ivan on September 5, after the storm had devastated Grenada and was heading toward the central and western Caribbean. Hurricane Frances made landfall in the early hours of September 5, and was downgraded to Tropical Storm status as it swept inland through the Florida panhandle and continued northward. Following on the heels of Frances is Hurricane Ivan, which is on record as the strongest tropical hurricane to form at such a low latitude in the Atlantic, and was the most powerful storm to have hit the Caribbean in nearly a decade. The ability of forecasters to predict the intensity and amount of rainfall associated with hurricanes still requires improvement, especially on the 24- to 48-hour timescale vital for disaster planning. To improve the operational models used to make hurricane forecasts, scientists need to better understand the multi-scale interactions at the cloud, mesoscale and synoptic scales that lead to hurricane intensification and dissipation, as well as the various physical processes that determine hurricane intensity and rainfall distributions. Because these uncertainties with regard to how to represent cloud processes still exist, it is vital that the model findings be evaluated against hurricane observations whenever possible. Two-dimensional maps of cloud height such as those shown here offer an unprecedented opportunity for comparing simulated cloud fields against actual hurricane observations. The lefthand panel in each image pair is a natural-color view from MISR's nadir camera. The righthand panels are cloud-top height retrievals produced by automated computer recognition of the distinctive spatial features between images acquired at different view angles. These results indicate that at the time that these images were acquired, clouds within Frances and Ivan had attained altitudes of 15-16 kilometers (9-10 miles) above sea level, respectively. The height fields pictured here are uncorrected for the effects of cloud motion. Wind-corrected heights (which have higher accuracy but coarser spatial coverage) are within about 1 kilometer of the heights shown here. (Visit the Earth Observatory's Natural Hazards Severe Storms [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?topic=storm ] section to view more recent images of Hurricanes Ivan and Frances.) The MISR observes the daylit Earth continuously and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82° north and 82° south latitude. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ], orbits 25081 and 25094. The panels cover an area of 380 kilometers x 924 kilometers, and utilize data from within blocks 65 to 87 within World Reference System-2 paths 14 and 222, respectively. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. NASA image courtesy GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. [ http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov ] Text acknowledgment: Clare Averill (Raytheon/Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Greg McFarquhar (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
Haze Over the Midwestern Uni …
Title Haze Over the Midwestern United States
Description High pressure over the central United States led to hot temperatures and an accumulation of pollutants on August 8, 2005. The Environmental Protection Agency warned that air quality index levels could be unhealthy for the Midwest, and western and southern Great Lakes areas. The EPA advised individuals with respiratory sensitivity to avoid outdoor exercise. Meanwhile, as reported by the CBS 2 Chicago Website, Illinois officials designated August 9, 2005, the ninth air pollution action day this summer, and the second air pollution action day in a row. To cut down on ozone accumulation, city officials encouraged Chicago residents to use public transportation. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on August 8, 2005. In this image, a layer of haze stretches southwards from the Great Lakes through the Midwest. The sharp line running diagonally through the picture is caused by different passes of the Terra satellite. The images from these passes were stitched together to make a complete picture. Because the passes occurred at different times, cloud and aerosol cover differ, but the cloud of haze persists. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] 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 Wilma
Title Hurricane Wilma
Description (MISR) acquired this sequence of images and cloud-top height observations for Hurricane Wilma as it progressed across the Caribbean in October 2005. Each pair in the sequence has a photo-like view of the storm on the left and a matching color-coded image of cloud-top height on the right. Cloud-top heights range from 0 (purple) to 18 (red) kilometers altitude. Areas where cloud heights could not be determined are shown in dark gray. The pair on the left shows Wilma on Tuesday, October 18, when Hurricane watches were posted for Cuba and Mexico. The central pair shows the eye of Hurricane Wilma just hours before the storm began to cross the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, October 21. At that time, Wilma was a powerful Category 4 Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and had a minimum recorded central pressure of 930 millibars. Hurricane Wilma surged from tropical storm to Category 5 hurricane status in record time, but the storm slowed and weakened considerably after battering Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the Caribbean. The right-hand image pair displays the eastern edges of a weakened Wilma, when Wilma had been reduced to Category 2 status and was just starting to reach southern Florida on the morning of Sunday, October 23. Wilma gathered speed and strengthened on Sunday night, crossing Florida as a Category 3 storm on Monday, October 24. On the 18th, Wilma looked a bit ragged. Its eye is located at the center of the left edge, and its outer bands of clouds appear to be dominated by a rather loose collection of thunderstorms. In the photo-like images, these look like areas of "boiling clouds," and in the cloud-height image, these appear as orange blobs, sometimes topped with pinkish-red. On October 21 (center), when Wilma was a Category 4 storm, cloud-top height on the eastern side of the storm near the eye reached 18 kilometers in altitude, with lower heights on the western side. The image from the 23rd shows the eastern edge of Wilma as it approached Florida (upper right) and Cuba (center right). MISR has nine different cameras that view the Earth from a variety of angles. Shifts in the clouds' apparent position from one camera's perspective to another's allows MISR to measure the height of the cloud-tops. MISR scientists have programmed computers to compare the different views, identify features that appear to shift from view to view, and use that information to calculate cloud height automatically. The height fields pictured have not been corrected for the effects of cloud motion. Wind-corrected heights (which have higher accuracy but sparser spatial coverage) are within about 1 kilometer of the heights shown here. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82° North and 82° South latitude every nine days. Each image covers an area of about 380 kilometers by 1,830 kilometers. The data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbits, 31037, 31081 and 31110, and utilize data from within blocks 68-83 within World Reference System-2 paths 13, 16 and 18, respectively. Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. Text by Clare Averill (Raytheon RIS/JPL) and Greg McFarquhar (University of Illinois)., Information on cloud-top heights at different stages in the life cycle of the rapidly intensifying Hurricane Wilma may prove useful for evaluating the ability of numerical weather models to predict the intensity changes of hurricanes. NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer [ http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]
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