The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Kenneth and analyzed the storm in infrared light.
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Kenneth and analyzed the storm in infrared light.
Infrared light provides scientists with temperature data and that is important when trying to understand how strong storms can be. The higher the cloud tops, the colder and the stronger they are. So infrared light as that gathered by the AIRS instrument can identify the strongest sides of a tropical cyclone.
NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over Kenneth on April 23 at 6:41 a.m. EDT (1041 UTC). AIRS detected strongest storms around the center of circulation and in a band of thunderstorms southwest of the center. Those areas revealed cloud top temperatures as cold as minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius). Storms with cloud top temperatures that cold extend high into the troposphere and have the capability to produce heavy rainfall.
Read more at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Image: NASA's Aqua satellite provided an infrared picture of Kenneth's cloud top temperatures on April 23 at 6:41 a.m. EDT (1041 UTC). (Credit: NASA JPL, Heidar Thrastarson)
