Archive for cloud tops

NASA sees Chris become first hurricane of Atlantic season

By alkaon on June 22, 2012 No Comments


Infrared satellite imagery from NASA’s Aqua satellite have revealed that the clouds around Hurricane Chris’ eye have reached a cold peak early on June 21 when it was first designated a hurricane, and have since warmed. The thunderstorms that surround Chris’ eye are now between -60 and -70 Celsius. Cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong, high, thunderstorms with the potential for heavy rainfall.

When tops cool, it means there’s more uplight in the atmosphere, which can push cloud tops higher and build stronger thunderstorms. When cloud top temperatures warm, it means the cloud tops are falling, and the push of the air upward is lesser than it was before, and the storm is weakening. As a result, at the National Hurricane Center expect Chris to become a post-tropical cyclone on Friday, June 22. That weakening is expected because Chris is moving into stable air and cooler waters.

NOAA’s GOES-13 satellite captured a of Chris on June 21 at 1445 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT). The image was created by NASA’s GOES Project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. and it showed Hurricane Chris with a tight circulation center.

At 11 a.m. EDT, Chris had 75 mph (120 kph) winds. It was located about 625 miles (1005 km) southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland, Canada, near 41.1 North and 43.2 West. It was moving to the northeast at 20 mph (32 kph) and had a minimum central pressure of 987 millibars.

Chris is expected to turn in the Altantic over the next couple of days. First a turn to the north and then northwest and finally south. Chris is moving around a large mid-to-upper level low pressure area and will eventually become absorbed within the upper level low in the next couple of days.

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Article source: http://phys.org/news/2012-06-nasa-chris-hurricane-atlantic-season.html

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NASA provides satellite views of Maryland’s severe weather outbreak

By alkaon on June 8, 2012 No Comments


The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite provided both a visible and an infrared look at the severe weather that moved into Maryland on June 1 and generated an astounding number of – nine in all.

Aqua passed over Maryland on June 1 around 18:53 UTC (2:53 p.m. EDT) and AIRS captured data on temperature and cloud heights. The infrared imagery showed that the major activity was located in West Virginia and heading eastward toward Maryland. When cloud temperatures get colder, it means that clouds are getting higher. Building clouds indicate a lot of “uplift” in the atmosphere and stronger thunderstorms.


NASA provides satellite views of Maryland's severe weather outbreak
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This infrared image from the AIRS instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite on June 1 at 18:53 UTC (2:53 p.m. EDT) shows the center of the most intense activity over West Virginia. That area appears to have cloud top temperatures between -27F and -45F, and the cloud tops are between 4.6 and 5.6 miles high. Credit: NASA/JPL, Ed Olsen

Ed Olsen of the AIRS Team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. said that the AIRS imagery showed “The center of most intense activity over West Virginia appears to have cloud top temperatures between -27 and -45 Fahrenheit (-33.1 and -43.1 Celsius / 230 and 240 Kelvin), meaning that the cloud tops (assuming U.S. Standard Atmosphere) are between (4.6 and 5.6 miles) 7.5 and 9 kilometers high.”

The data from the AIRS instrument is also used to create an accurate 3-D map of atmospheric temperature, water vapor and clouds, all of which are helpful to forecasters.

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A cold front approaching from the west spawned severe storms along the East Coast, on June 1, 2012, including nine weak tornadoes in Maryland around sunset. From the GOES satellite viewpoint, all that surface action is covered by cloud tops. The image was created by the NASA GOES Project at NASA Goddard. Credit: NASA GOES Project, Dennis Chesters

NOAA’s GOES-13 was providing real-time visible imagery of the severe weather outbreak when tornadoes were touching down around Maryland on June 1. The GOES Project, located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. combined the GOES imagery to create an animation of the outbreak. The animation that runs almost eight seconds shows the movement of the severe storms from 1:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. EDT (1745 UTC to 2345 UTC). The colorized full resolution uses the GOES visible data of the clouds, overlaid on a U.S. map created by imagery from the Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer instrument (MODIS), an instrument that flies onboard both the NASA Aqua and Terra satellites.

The animation shows a cold front approaching from the west spawned severe storms along the U.S. East Coast, including 9 weak tornadoes in Maryland around sunset. From the GOES viewpoint, all that surface action is covered by cloud tops.

Baltimore Meteorologist Justin Berk compiled a listing of the individual tornadoes. The ten tornadoes include: An EF-1 tornado with 90 mph winds in Pleasant Hills, Harford County; An EF-0 tornado started near Fort Meade and moved to BWI Marshall Airport; another tornado (not rated yet) in Gamber, Carroll County; an EF-O in Centreville in Queen Anne’s County, Md. ; Two possible EF-0 tornadoes in Damascus, Montgomery County; An EF-0 at Springdale, Prince George’s County (just outside the Washington, D.C. beltway); An EF-1 touched down in Watersville, Howard County; another EF-0 tornado touched down in Mount Airy in Carroll County; and another tornado (not yet rated) made an appearance in Simpsonville, Howard County.

More information: For the complete listing of tornado reports, visit: http://www.spc.noa … 01_rpts.html

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Article source: http://phys.org/news/2012-06-nasa-satellite-views-maryland-severe.html

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NASA eyes cyclone Iggy’s threat to western Australia

By alkaon on January 28, 2012 No Comments

NASA satellites are providing valuable data to forecasters as Tropical Cyclone Iggy nears Western Australia. NASA’s Aqua satellite provided visible and infrared data on Iggy, observing colder cloud tops and strengthening storm. Iggy has already triggered warnings and watches along coastal areas.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) has issued a Cyclone Warning for coastal areas from Mardie to Ningaloo including Exmouth and Onslow. ABM has also issued a Cyclone Watch east to Port Hedland and south to Coral Bay. In addition, a Blue Alert has been posted for “People in or near coastal and island communities between Mardie and Coral Bay including the communities of Mardie, Onslow, Exmouth and Coral Bay need to prepare for cyclonic weather.”

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a true color image of Tropical Storm Iggy on January 27 at 0655 UTC (2:30 a.m. EST), and showed Iggy as a rounded area of clouds with no visible eye. Animated infrared satellite imagery showed a slight cooling of cloud tops in Iggy’s main band of thunderstorms, located west of the center. Dropping cloud-top temperatures mean that the strength in the storm is increasing and pushing those cloud tops higher in the atmosphere, where it is colder. Higher cloud tops mean stronger thunderstorms within the tropical cyclone.

NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the Southern Indian Ocean and its MODIS instrument captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Iggy on Jan. 27 at 0655 UTC (2:30 a.m. EST). The MODIS instrument captured a true color image of the storm that showed Iggy as a rounded area of clouds.

(Photo Credit: : NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team)

At 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST) on January 27, Iggy’s maximum sustained winds were near 55 knots (63 mph/102 kph). Iggy’s tropical-storm-force-winds extend 115 nautical miles (132 miles/213 km) from the center. Iggy is about 230 nm (~265 miles/426 km) in diameter. Iggy was centered about 270 nautical miles (~311 miles/500 km) northwest of Learmouth, Australia, near 19.1 South latitude and 110.7 East longitude. Iggy is moving slowly to the south-southeast, toward Western Australia’s Pilbara coastline.

ABM classified Iggy as a “Category two” cyclone, with wind gusts of 130 kph (~81 mph). ABM forecasters expect Iggy to become a category three storm on January 28. For updates on tropical cyclone warnings from the ABM, visit: http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/.

Because of low wind shear and warm waters, Iggy is expected to continue strengthening on its approach to the Australian coastline. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast as of January 27 takes the center of Iggy’s center very close to Learmouth on January 30 and 31 before turning to the southwest and heading back to sea.

Article source: http://www.sciencecodex.com/read/nasa_eyes_cyclone_iggys_threat_to_western_australia-85039

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NASA sees development of tropical storm 09S in southern Indian Ocean

By alkaon on January 26, 2012 No Comments


NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm 09S on January 25 at 7:05 UTC (2:05 a.m. EST), and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument measured the cloud top temperatures. Just as they appeared in on January 24, tops around the entire center of circulation and in some of the bands of thunderstorms that circled the center from northwest to northeast were colder than -63 Fahrenheit (-52.7 Celsius). Temperatures that cold indicate uplift (and evaporation) of air is very strong, and it pushes the cloud tops to the top of the troposphere. When get that high, they tend to drop heavy rainfall (around 2 inches/50 mm per hour).

AIRS infrared imagery revealed that the convection continues to strengthen and during the early hours on January 25, bands of thunderstorms were developing around the center.

Although Tropical Storm 09S has moved in a westerly direction over the last couple of days, a (elongated area of high pressure, called a ridge) will begin pushing it eastward toward Western Australia late on January 25. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center has forecast Tropical Storm 09S (TS09S) to come closest to the coastline of Western Australia by January 29 and 30, 2012.

At 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST) on January 25, TS09S had near 35 knots (40 mph/~65 kph). It was located near 16.0 South latitude and 107.8 East longitude, about 515 nautical miles (~592 miles/~953 km) northwest of Learmonth, Australia. The storm was still moving to the west at 5 knots (~6 mph/9 kph), but is expected to change course to the east-southeast.

The Joint expects that Tropical Storm 09S will continue to strengthen over the next couple of days and could reach Cyclone status.

Provided by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (news : web)

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Article source: http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-nasa-tropical-storm-09s-southern.html

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NASA Image of the day

Launching Balloons to Study Space Weather

 
In Antarctica in January, 2013 – the summer at the South Pole – scientists released 20 balloons, each eight stories tall, into the air to help answer an enduring space weather question: when the giant radiation belts surrounding Earth lose material, where do the extra particles actually go? This NASA-funded mission is called BARREL, for Balloon Array for Radiation belt Relativistic Electron Losses. Each balloon launched by the BARREL team floated for anywhere from three to 40 days, measuring X-rays produced by fast-moving electrons high up in the atmosphere.BARREL works hand in hand with another NASA mission called the Van Allen Probes, which travels directly through the Van Allen radiation belts. The belts wax and wane over time in response to incoming energy and material from the sun, sometimes intensifying the radiation through which satellites orbiting Earth must travel. Scientists need to understand this process better, and even provide forecasts of such space weather, in order to protect our spacecraft.› Read MoreImage Credit: NASA
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