NASA Missions to Study Hurricanes

QuikSCAT
NASA's Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) spacecraft was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on June 19, 1999. QuikScat carries the SeaWinds scatterometer, a specialized microwave radar that measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud conditions over the Earth's oceans.

In recent years, the ability to detect and track severe storms has been dramatically enhanced by the advent of weather satellites. Data from the SeaWinds scatterometer is augmenting traditional satellite images of clouds by providing direct measurements of surface winds to compare with the observed cloud patterns in an effort to better determine a hurricane's location, direction, structure, and strength. Specifically, these wind data are helping meteorologists to more accurately identify the extent of gale-force winds associated with a storm, while supplying inputs to numerical models that provide advanced warning of high waves and flooding.

Scientists gained an unprecedented view of hurricanes with QuikSCAT and TRMM data. QuikSCAT measures wind (arrows) while TRMM measures rainfall (color). The two satellites observed Cindy on August 25, 2000. The storm reached category 4 strength, but never threatened land. (Image courtesy Seaflux, NASA/JPL)

TRMM
NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the first space mission dedicated to studying tropical and subtropical rainfall, was launched on November 27, 1997, from the Japanese Space Center in Tanegashima, Japan. TRMM carries a suite of advanced instruments that include the world's first spaceborne Precipitation Radar (PR), the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI), a Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS), a Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), and a Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS).

Scientists are using the Precipitation Radar and the TRMM Microwave Imager to peer inside the tropical thunderstorms associated with hurricanes in an attempt to understand which parts of a hurricane produce rainfall and why. In addition, TRMM data are being used to answer the question of how latent heat release affects global weather patterns.

Most importantly to people endangered by hurricanes, TRMM will add to the knowledge needed to improve computer-based weather modeling. With these data, meteorologists may be more able to precisely predict the path and intensity of these storms.

Together, QuikSCAT and TRMM are providing scientists with the opportunity to observe a hurricane's wind and rain before it makes landfall. The coincident measurements of surface wind and rain reveal the interplay between the hydrologic balances and energy exchanges within the storm. These variables are important in understanding the structure of the hurricane and predicting its path.

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Hurricanes: The Greatest Storms on Earth

Hurricane Formation and Decay
Hurricane Anatomy
Storm Surge
Hurricane Climatology
The Saffir-Simpson Scale
NASA Missions to Study Hurricanes
References