NASA engineers Rob Gallagher (left), Ken Smith (right) and Deneen Ferro (inside the spacecraft, center) work on the GPM Core satellite in the clean room at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md.
The TRMM satellite passed over tropical storm Ernesto on 7 august 2012 at 0711 UTC ( 3:11 AM EDT) as it was heading toward the Yucatan Peninsula. TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments show that Ernesto was a little better organized with bands of moderate to occasionally heavy rainfall spiraling into the center of the storm's circulation. A few powerful convective storms are shown located in these widely separated rain bands. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicts that Ernesto will be a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale with winds of about
The TRMM satellite had a good view of Typhoon Haikui on August 6, 2012 at 1857 UTC as it was moving toward China. At that time Haikui was a category one typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane intensity scale with wind speeds of 65 kts (~75 mph). Data from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments show bands of moderate to heavy rainfall around Haikui's large eye. TRMM PR data were also used to show a 3-D cross section through Haikui's eye. This view shows that intense rainfall (45 dBZ) was occurring in the eastern side of Haikui's eye. Typhoon Haikui weakened
The South Pacific hurricane season normally ends in April but tropical cyclone 21P has developed in the South Pacific Ocean between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The center of the tropical cyclone was directly beneath the TRMM satellite when it passed over on 28 June 2012 at 2225 UTC (~8:25 AM Local time). A rainfall analysis using data from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments shows that the tropical cyclone, although small, was well organized and contained some intense convective storms dropping rainfall at a rate of over 50mm/hr (~2 inches). A 3
The remnant low pressure center from tropical storm Debby is predicted to kick up winds to gale force and cause a few showers today as it passes to the northwest of Bermuda. The TRMM satellite passed over the low early this morning at 0717 (4:17 AM ADT). TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) data show that Debby's remnant low contained a few light to moderate showers. A 3-D view using TRMM PR data shows that the most powerful of these storms were only reaching heights of about 10km (~6.2 miles).
