NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a look at Typhoon Hagupit as it was nearing landfall in southeastern China.
NASA’s Aqua satellite provided a look at Typhoon Hagupit as it was nearing landfall in southeastern China.
One of the ways NASA researches tropical cyclones is using infrared data that provides temperature information. Cloud top temperatures provide information to forecasters about where the strongest storms are located within a tropical cyclone. Tropical cyclones do not always have uniform strength, and some sides have stronger sides than others. The stronger the storms, the higher they extend into the troposphere, and the colder the cloud temperatures.
On Aug. 3 at 1:41 p.m. EDT (1741 UTC) NASA’s Aqua satellite analyzed Hagupit using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument. Aqua passed over Hagupit less than 2 hours before its official landfall.
The infrared data showed the bulk of the storms were southeast of the center because of vertical wind shear or outside winds pushing against the storm from the northwest.
Read more at NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center
Image: On Aug. 3 at 1:41 p.m. EDT (1741 UTC) NASA’s Aqua satellite analyzed Typhoon Hagupit less than 2 hours before landfall in China. Using the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument, NASA found coldest cloud top temperatures as cold as or colder than (purple) minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius). Credit: NASA JPL/Heidar Thrastarson
