Rain Patterns During the Alaska Wildfires
NASA's satellite-based estimate of global precipitation can provide valuable information to officials monitoring the many wildfires in Alaska this summer. Wildfires occur in Alaska each summer, but July 2019 is shaping up to be a particularly active month. Few rain gauges exist in the large tracts of Alaskan wilderness, but wildfires unchecked can spread to populated areas within the state. Satellite-based precipitation estimates are particularly valuable here because of precipitation's relationship to wildfire hazard. The movie shows NASA's IMERG precipitation estimates for May 1 through July...
Observing the Intertropical Convergence Zone with IMERG
The intertropical convergence zone or “ITCZ” roughly forms a band that circumnavigates the Earth near the Equator where the northeast trade winds in the Northern Hemisphere converge with the southeast trade winds in the Southern Hemisphere. Sailors have often referred to it as the “doldrums” due to its generally light winds. Yet, the ITCZ is an important part of the global circulation as it forms the ascending branch of the Hadley circulation. This is ultimately driven by incoming solar radiation, which peaks near the Equator. This warms the air and the ocean, causing warm buoyant air to rise...

Hurricane Barry Makes Landfall in Louisiana

UPDATE 7/17/19: This GPM IMERG animation shows rainfall accumulations from #HurricaneBarry in the Gulf of Mexico from July 11-16, 2019. Learn more: https://t.co/1QjFLDbD0k pic.twitter.com/CC7J0AsSTW — NASA Precipitation (@NASARain) July 17, 2019 This 6-day animation shows the heavy precipitation that Hurricane Barry (2019) producing from July 11 to 16 in the Gulf of Mexico and the South Central U.S. While forecasters were initially concerned that the largest accumulations would extend far over land, this animation shows that the largest accumulations remained mostly off shore. The

GPM Sees Developing Tropical Storm Barry in the Gulf of Mexico

NASA / JAXA’s GPM Core Observatory passed over developing Tropical Depression 2 (which was upgraded to Tropical Storm Barry later in the morning) in the Gulf of Mexico the morning of July 11th 2019 at 8:26am CT, capturing estimates of rainfall rates within the storm. The first image shows rainfall rates collected by GPM’s Microwave Imager, while the second image shows 3D rainfall rates within the atmospheric column from GPM’s Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR). The DPR measured storm top heights as high as 18 km, which is extremely high and indicative of intense thunderstorm activity