NASA’s Aqua satellite gazed into Tropical Storm Lekima as it moved through the Philippine Sea on August 5 and the AIRS instrument aboard took the temperature of its cloud tops to estimate storm strength.
NASA’s Aqua satellite gazed into Tropical Storm Lekima as it moved through the Philippine Sea on August 5 and the AIRS instrument aboard took the temperature of its cloud tops to estimate storm strength.
Lekima formed early on Aug. 4 as Tropical Depression 10W and strengthened into a tropical storm on Aug. 5, when it was renamed Lekima.
NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Lekima on Aug. 5, at 0105 a.m. EDT (0505 UTC). The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite analyzed Lekima in infrared light and found cloud top temperatures of strongest thunderstorms as cold as or colder than minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius) were wrapping into the low-level center from the south. Cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms that have the capability to create heavy rain.
Read more at NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center
Image: On Aug. 5, at 0105 a.m. EDT (0505 UTC) the AIRS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite analyzed cloud top temperatures of Tropical Storm Lekima in infrared light. AIRS found coldest cloud top temperatures (purple) of strongest thunderstorms were as cold as or colder than minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius). Credit: NASA JPL/Heidar Thrastarson
