NASA HIWRAP: High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler

This new animation from NASA shows how a remarkable instrument called the HIWRAP looks into tropical cyclones at wind, rain and ice to analyze storm intensity.

The HIWRAP is the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler, a "conically scanning" Doppler radar, meaning it scans in a cone-shaped manner.

Wind measurements are crucial for understanding and forecasting tropical storms since they are closely tied to the overall dynamics of the storm.

The HIWRAP instrument is able to measure line-of-sight (along the radar beam) and because it scans in a cone beneath the aircraft, it gets two looks at most parts of the storm, allowing calculations of the 3-dimensional wind and rain fields. In the absence of rain, it can also measure ocean surface winds.

HIWRAP while flying on board an aircraft is capable of examining storms down to a very small scale.

"HIWRAP allows us to see how strong bursts of thunderstorms contribute to the intensification of the low-level wind field in hurricanes," said Research Meteorologist Scott Braun of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The 2 minute visualisation shows how scans from the HIWRAP instrument are done in a cone-like shape over storms, measuring winds within heavy rain throughout.

"What's interesting about the HIWRAP Doppler radar is that it's a dual-frequency and dual-beam radar," said Gerry Heymsfield, Cloud Radar Expert and Research Meteorologist from NASA Goddard. "That means it has two frequencies that measure at two different angles."

The instrument scans in a cone shape toward the surface, with the peak of the cone at the HIWRAP radar on the aircraft.

"As the plane flies over a particular target-say the eyewall of a storm- scanning it with a cone-shape provides views of the same region from different directions. That's what allows scientists to measure the three-dimensional winds and precipitation within the storm."

The video shows that the HIWRAP sends out about 5,000 pulses a second to get an accurate read on precipitation particles, like rain or ice as the storm and the aircraft are both moving.

The signals that bounce back reveal the type, size and distribution of rain or ice particles, as well as how fast the particles are moving. The speed of the particles can help determine the wind and circulation in a storm.

NOAA Hurricane Research Storm Drones

In this April 29, 2014 photo, Joe Cione, who studies how storms interact with the ocean at the (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) NOAA's Hurricane Research Division in Miami, displays a drone he hopes to use this hurricane season for research. 

NOAA researchers plan to test five or six drones in the peak of hurricane season that will be transmitting data that could help forecasters understand what makes some storms fizzle while others strengthen into monsters. AP Photo/J Pat Carter

The point where the roiling ocean meets the fury of a hurricane's winds may hold the key to improving storm intensity forecasts, but it's nearly impossible for scientists to see.

That may change this summer, thanks to post-Hurricane Sandy federal funding and a handful of winged drones that can spend hours spiraling in a hurricane's dark places.

The drones will be transmitting data that could help forecasters understand what makes some storms fizzle while others strengthen into monsters.

Researchers at the NOAA's plan to test five or six drones in the peak of hurricane season.

The $1.25 million project is among a slew of other NOAA hurricane research funded by last year's Sandy supplemental bill that authorised $60 billion for disaster relief agencies.

NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP VIIRS satellite sensor: More precise hurricane forecasts

Tropical Storm Flossie imagery in July 2013 from Suomi NPP’s VIIRS Day-Night band revealing that the storm shifted more to the north, sparing the big island of Hawaii from a direct hit, but bringing the islands of Oahu, Molokai and Maui into a tropical storm warning area. 

Credit: NOAA

The ability to use satellites to locate a storm that could evolve into a severe storm or hurricane will likely become more accurate for this year's Atlantic hurricane season beginning June 1.

By then, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA), weather forecasters will be able to further improve the use of sensors aboard the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite (Suomi NPP).

U.S. Polar Environmental satellites such as Suomi NPP provide complete global coverage twice daily, while NOAA/NASA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites offer imagery over a fixed area.

To improve the ability to better find and track hurricanes, NOAA scientists are finding ways to incorporate data from Suomi NPP's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite, VIIRS sensor, that allows observations of Earth's atmosphere and surface during nighttime hours and offers enhanced capability to see through clouds.

VIIRS provides many advances over previous operational imagers and advances compared to its research predecessor, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) currently operating on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites.

It is these advances in polar imagery that will give forecasters a new tool to improve their predictions.

Similarly, the radar on board the NASA/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite has the capability to see through and distinguish between precipitating cumulus and the cirrus clouds which TRMM's infrared sensor also detects.

The next-generation of these sensors is set to launch from Japan next month aboard the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite.

The information to track storms comes from satellites surface stations, weather balloons, radar and aircraft.

Most current satellites provide important information during day and night, although observations in the visible part of the spectrum are limited at night.

That is where VIIRS has an advantage. The VIIRS day-night band is sensitive enough to provide storm information even under limited moonlight conditions, a major advancement for storm analysis.

The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) sensor aboard Suomi NPP also provides temperature and water vapour measurements with greater accuracy than similar microwave instruments onboard earlier satellites.

In relatively clear areas away from the storm center and in the eye of intense storms, the Cross-track Infrared Sensor (CrIS), also on Suomi NPP, enhances ATMS temperature and moisture information by providing measurements with even greater vertical and horizontal resolution.

Installation of the CrIS instrument. Credit: Ball Aerospace

NOAA GOES-15 Satellite: Eastern Pacific's hurricane Cosme weaken

NOAA's GOES-15 satellite captured Hurricane Cosme when its eye was very close to Clarion Island, Mexico and its maximum sustained winds were near 80 mph. 

The northernmost extent of Cosme's clouds were covering the southern Baja California peninsula. Credit: NASA GOES Project 

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite captured the third named Eastern Pacific tropical cyclone as it grew to hurricane strength.

Hurricane Cosme was bringing those winds to Clarion Island, Mexico on June 26 and its northernmost clouds extended over southern Baja California.

Read the full story of Cosme here

Bering Sea: Massive storm threatens Alaska

An unusual Bering Sea storm packing hurricane-force winds and 35ft waves is moving rapidly towards the western Alaska coastline.

The storm is travelling at 60mph and has reached the western Aleutian Islands, said Andy Brown, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in Anchorage.

It could reach the beachfront city of Nome with winds hitting 85mph.

The storm is expected to produce a 10ft sea surge, forcing dozens of coastal communities to make emergency preparations. Mr Brown advised Bering Sea mariners and people living in coastal communities from Wales to Unalakleet to "prepare for a really nasty storm".

The last time forecasters saw anything similar was in 1974, when Nome also took the brunt of the storm. That surge measured more than 13ft, pushing beach driftwood above the level of the previous storm of its type in 1913.

The storm, described by Mr Brown as "big, deep, low", is taking an unusual path through the northern and eastern Bering Sea. Winds from the storm are expected to push large amounts of water into Norton Sound, raising sea levels 10ft above normal.

Making communities more vulnerable than in past years is the lack of shore-fast sea ice, said Jeff Osinsky, the National Weather Service's regional warning co-ordinator. "The presence of sea ice can sometimes act to protect coastal areas," he said.

The bigger concern will be for Alaska Natives in the 18 villages in the region. The village of Point Hope, which sits on the tip of a peninsula with the Arctic Ocean on one side and the Bering Sea on the other, is 7ft to 8ft above sea level, Mayor Steve Oomittuk said.

The Inupiat Eskimo village of about 700 people has no sea wall and no evacuation road. If evacuation becomes necessary, everyone will go to the school because it sits on higher ground and is big enough to accommodate everyone, he said.

Smaller communities that are vulnerable to storm erosion are of particular concern, especially the village of Kivalina, already one of the state's most threatened communities because of erosion.

NASA NEEMO: Undersea Asteroid Mission Halted Due to Hurricane Rina

The 15th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) ended ahead of schedule due to the predicted path of Hurricane Rina.

In a preparation for future space exploration, the six aquanaut crew lived in the Aquarius underwater research laboratory at Key Largo, Florida for five days.

Usually the mission is for 10 days, but due to the Hurricane Rina which heads towards Key Largo, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which operates the lab, determined Rina posed a risk to the safety of the mission taking place near the area.

"Despite the length, we accomplished a significant amount of research," said NEEMO project manager Bill Todd. "We're already learning lessons from working in this environment."

The six-member NEEMO crew -- Commander and NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques, Steven Squyres of Cornell University and James Talacek and Nate Bender of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, kicked off this year's mission Oct. 20, after an initial delay caused by another storm in the area.

The aquanauts conducted six underwater spacewalks and one day of scientific research inside the Aquarius habitat.

The crew completed four days of scientific asteroid exploration analog operations using the deep worker submersibles that stood in for the Space Exploration Vehicle.

This year's mission was the first NEEMO to focus on operational concepts that would be used in human exploration of an asteroid.

NASA said the remainder of NEEMO 15 will not be rescheduled, and all media events are canceled. The NEEMO 16 mission is tentatively set for the summer of 2012.

The NEEMO crew focused on three different aspects of a mission to an asteroid surface. The first is anchoring to the surface of the asteroid.

Unlike the Moon or Mars, an asteroid would have little, if any, gravity to hold astronauts or vehicles to its surface, so an anchor would be necessary.

Mike Gernhardt (NASA) pilots the DeepWorker to a location that will allow Zeb Scoville (NASA) to capture an interesting specimen.

Source: NASA

 

It will require a method of connecting multiple anchors to form pathways to move around on the surface of an asteroid.

The best way to connect these anchors was the second aspect of a near-Earth asteroid mission addressed by NEEMO 15.

Finally, since NASA's purpose in visiting an asteroid would be for scientific research, the third aspect of this mission investigated by NEEMO 15 was different methods of sample collection.

Take a glimpse of more NEEMO 15 asteroid research under the sea.

NASA: NPP Polar Orbiting Environmental /Weather Satellite

The launch of a new polar-orbiting environmental satellite enables NOAA to continue issuing accurate
forecasts and provide advance warning for severe weather, such as deadly tornado outbreaks, blistering
heat waves, floods, snowfall and wildfires.

The satellite, NASA’s NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP), orbits Earth every 102 minutes, flying 512 miles above the surface, and capturing data from the Earth’s land, oceans, and atmosphere.

The data is used by NOAA forecasters to detect the potential for dangerous weather conditions days – even several weeks, in advance.

For example, data from polar-orbiting satellites helped NOAA meteorologists predict, 5 days in
advance, the major snowstorms that struck the Atlantic Coast in February 2010 (“Snowmageddon”) and
paralysed New York City in December 2010.

For more information on NOAA and NPP click on the link  here

NASA Video: Hurricane Katia

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NASA Space Weather: Hurricane Katia From Space

Katia was a tropical storm gathering energy over the Atlantic Ocean when one of the Expedition 28 crew took this photo on Aug. 31, 2011, from aboard the International Space Station.

The picture, taken with a 12-mm focal length, was captured at 14:09:01 GMT. 

Later in the day Katia was upgraded to hurricane status. 

Two Russian spacecraft -- a Progress and a Soyuz --can be seen parked at the orbital outpost on the left side of the frame.


Image Credit: NASA

TRMM captured a rainfall image of Tropical Storm Katia on August, 31, 2011 2:29 p.m. EDT. Yellow and green indicate rainfall between 20 and 40 millimeters (.78 to 1.57 inches) per hour. 

Dark red areas are considered heavy rainfall, as much as 50 mm (2 inches) of rain per hour. Credit: SSAI/NASA, Hal Pierce

This infrared image of Tropical Storm Katia's cold clouds shows large areas of strong convection (purple) surrounding center. It was taken by the AIRS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite on Sept. 1 at 12:47 a.m. EDT. Credit: NASA/JPL, Ed Olsen 

Hurricane Irene: Hurricanes explained

Hurricanes start when strong clusters of thunderstorms drift over warm ocean waters.
In the Atlantic and eastern Pacific they are called hurricanes, but in the western Pacific they are called typhoons.

In the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean they are known as cyclones.

The very warm air from the storm combines with the moist ocean surface and begin rising. This creates low pressure at the surface.

As trade winds hit those within the storm, the whirling winds cause the storm to start spinning. Rising warm air leaves low pressure above the surface.

Air rises faster and faster to fill this low pressure, in turn drawing more warm air off the sea and sucking cooler, drier air downwards.

As the storm moves over the ocean it picks up more warm, moist air. Wind speeds start to increase as more air is sucked into the low-pressure centre.

It can take hours or several days for a depression to grow into a fully-formed hurricane.

Hurricanes are made up of an eye of calm winds and low pressure surrounded by a spinning vortex of high winds and heavy rainstorms.

When a hurricane hits land it often has devastating effects.

The Saffir-Simpson scale was devised to measure hurricanes around the Americas and is increasingly used to categorise typhoons and cyclones, too, although some regions still use different scales.

The effects:
Category 1:

• Minor flooding
• Little structural damage
• Storm surge 1.2-1.5m above normal

Category 2:

• Roofs damaged
• Some trees damaged
• Storm surge 1.8-2.4m above normal

Category 3:

• Houses damaged
• Severe flooding
• Storm surge 2.7-3.7m above normal

Category 4:

• Some roofs destroyed
• Major structural damage to houses
• Storm surge 4-5.5m above normal

Category 5:

• Serious damage to buildings
• Severe flooding further inland
• Storm surge more than 5.5m above normal

Reuters Video of Hurrican Irene hitting Bahamas

The northeast U.S. seaboard, including the capital, Washington, and financial centre New York, rushed to prepare on Thursday for a possible mauling from Hurricane Irene that will hit the U.S. coast this weekend.

Irene, a major Category 3 hurricane now battering the low-lying Bahamas southeast of Florida, was expected to sweep up to land on Saturday on jutting eastern North Carolina, before raking up the remaining U.S. Atlantic seaboard.

NASA Earth Observatory: Atlantic Heat Source for Hurricane Irene

As Hurricane Irene rumbles through the Atlantic Ocean, it needs fuel to sustain itself.

Warm water is the main fuel, and there is plenty of it right now, as there usually is this time of year.

The map above shows sea surface temperatures (SST) in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea on August 23, 2011.

The measurements come from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) on NASA’s Aqua satellite and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on both the Terra and Aqua satellites.

The satellites measure the temperature of the top millimeter of the ocean.

Waters typically need to be above 27.8 degrees Celsius (82 Fahrenheit) to properly fuel tropical storms with warm, moist air. Red, orange, and yellow colors depict waters above the 27.8 degree mark.

The warmer the water, the more intense the storm can grow, if upper level wind patterns cooperate. In the map above, such waters dominate the Gulf of Mexico and tropical Atlantic in late August 2011.

They also run up the southeastern coast of the United States, following the Gulf Stream to Cape Hatteras before giving way to slightly cooler waters (shades of blue) in the Middle and North Atlantic.

As of 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on August 24, 2011, the NOAA National Hurricane Center reported Irene had maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers (120 miles) per hour and was located at 23.1 degrees North and 74.7 degrees West, about 45 kilometers (30 miles) east-southeast of Long Island in the Bahamas.

The forecasted path had the hurricane sweeping over nearly all Bahaman islands, then turning toward the North Carolina coast and eventually New England. Forecasts are updated roughly every six hours.

Irene is the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, and potentially the first to make landfall in the United States in several years.


Further Reading

1. National Hurricane Center. (2011, August 24). Hurricane Irene. National Weather Service. Accessed August 24, 2011.
2. NASA Earth Observatory. (n.d.). Global Maps: Sea Surface Temperature. Accessed August 24, 2011.

US National Hurricane Centre: Watching Hurricane Irene

Eric Blake works on tracking Hurricane Irene at the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami, Florida

Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

NOAA Image: Hurricane Irene

A satellite image made and released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on 25 August 2011 at 12:15 GMT shows Hurricane Irene over the Bahamas and south-east of Florida

Picture: EPA / NOAA

NASA GOES-13 Image: Hurricane Irene over Bahamas

Hurricane Irene is pictured over the Bahamas, as captured by the GOES-13 satellite at 11:45 UTC (7:45 a.m. EDT) on August 24, 2011.

Irene battered the Bahamas on Wednesday on a track to the North Carolina coast that forecasters say could threaten the densely populated US Northeast, including New York, starting on Sunday. 

The hurricane, a major Category 3 storm with winds of 120 miles per hour (195 km per hour), pounded the southeast Bahamian islands with winds, rain and dangerous storm surge.

Picture: REUTERS/NOAA/NASA GOES Project

NASA Astronaut Image: Hurricane Irene

High above the Earth from aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Ron Garan snapped this image of Hurricane Irene as it passed over the Carribean on Aug. 22, 2011.

The National Hurricane Centre noted on Aug. 22 that Irene is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches across Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the Southeastern Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands.

Isolated maximum amounts of rainfall may reach up to 20 inches.

Image Credit: NASA

Tornado Alley Trailer (HD)

Filmmaker Sean Casey has been chasing tornadoes for more than a decade. And it takes one tough ride to get in and out of the violent storms safely.

We met up with the storm chaser this week at The Tech Museum in San Jose, Calif., where his Imax film, Tornado Alley, opens today.

Driving directly into violent storms with an Imax camera, Casey attempts to document a high-definition view of a direct hit from an F3 tornado, giving moviegoers a large-format view of one of nature's most violent displays. (F3 tornadoes are considered severe and characterize a storm with winds of 158 mph to 206 mph.)

To accomplish this, he's built a custom, bunker-like, 14,000-pound storm-chasing truck that is armored with layers of steel and Kevlar. Tucked safely inside, he aims to plant himself and his team directly in the path of these spectacular storms.

His second-generation Tornado Intercept Vehicle, the TIV2 shown here, has been built to withstand the worst. In this slideshow, we take a tour of some of the technology used to capture this unprecedented footage--and make sure everyone makes it out unharmed.

NOAA GOES Image: Hurricane Adrian

This US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES satellite image shows Hurricane Adrian, a Category 3 hurricane, off the west coast of Mexico. Adrian strengthened to a major hurricane on Thursday off the Pacific coast of Mexico, with sustained winds of 115 miles (185 kilometres) per hour but posing no immediate threat to land.

Picture: AFP PHOTO / NOAA

NASA ISS Image: Hurricane Earl

The relatively placid view from the International Space Station belied the potent forces at work in Hurricane Earl as it hovered northeast of Puerto Rico on Aug. 30, 2010.

With maximum sustained winds of 135 miles (215 kilometers) per hour, the storm was classified as a category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale as it passed north of the Virgin Islands.

In this photograph captured with a digital SLR camera by NASA astronaut Douglas Wheelock, Earl had a distinct eye that spanned about 17 miles (28 kilometers).

Most of the storm had a seemingly uniform top, though the bottom edge of the image gives some sense of the towering thunderheads forming over the ocean. The solar panels of the ISS remind us that the sun is still shining, at least on ISS Expedition 24.

"Hurricane Earl is gathering some serious strength," Wheelock wrote from his perch on ISS. "It is incredible what a difference a day makes when you’re dealing with this force of nature. Please keep a watchful eye on this one...not sure if Earl will go quietly into the night like Danielle."

Image Credit: NASA

Hurricane Season in the Gulf

Picture yourself sitting in space watching 2009's Atlantic Ocean hurricane season in fast-forward. That's what the latest animation from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows viewers.

The movie is being made available on-line as both agencies prepare for the 2010 Atlantic Ocean hurricane season, which begins on June 1 and runs through November 30.

NASA technology and satellite data coupled with data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operated satellites, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) were combined to create a six minute animation of all of 2009's Atlantic tropical cyclones.

The movie displays the infrared cloud imagery from the geosynchronous weather satellites, principally NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-12. The original cloud imagery was remapped and enhanced to display cloud top texture.


"The GOES cloud images were overlaid on a true-color background map previously created from the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite," said Dr. Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheres at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The movie, which can be found on NASA's Hurricane Web page (www.nasa.gov/hurricane), or on the NASA GOES web page, is television production-quality. These are large, high-resolution, colorful animations, made for use or editing by professional documentary producers or for anyone interested in hurricanes.

The 2009 Atlantic hurricane season consisted of eleven tropical depressions, and nine of them developed into named tropical storms. Three of those strengthened into hurricanes, and of those three, two were major hurricanes (Category three or greater). In this movie, you can see all of those storms and their movements from birth to death.

One of the most significant storms was Hurricane Bill. Bill was the season's strongest hurricane and an unusually large storm with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph. Hurricane Bill caused moderate coastal damage across the eastern United States before brushing Nova Scotia and making landfall in Newfoundland.