+ Visit NASA.gov + Advanced Search   + About the Server   + Animation List   + How to Use the Server   + RSS Feeds   + Podcasts   + Opportunities Previous Animation Next Animation Super-Typhoon Pongsona Visualized from AIRS Instrument Suite Data Packing gusts of nearly 300 kilometers per hour (184 miles per hour) and sustained winds of 240 kilometers per hour (150 miles per hour), Super-Typhoon Pongsona struck the U.S. Island of Guam on December 8, 2002. This 3D model of the hurricane shows the outline of the clouds, based on cloud top heights derived from AIRS observations. The color overlay represents the brightness temperatures observed in one of the HSB channels. Blue areas indicate intense convection and rain, while green and yellow reflect the internal temperature of the clouds. Microwaves, unlike infrared radiation, penetrate clouds and look into them or even through them. Red, most of which has been removed from the picture for clarity, represents areas where HSB penetrates all the way to the surface.    The 3D model represents cloud tops estimated from an AIRS window channel. (This channel essentially measures the temperature of the nearest impenetrable surface seen from the satellite, either clouds or ocean-land. Using an estimate of the vertical temperature distribution in the atmosphere, the temperature field is then converted to a cloud top height field.) Duration: 21.0 seconds Available formats:   320x240 (14.98 fps) QT         1 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   2 MB   320x262     JPEG         10 KB   640x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-1   8 MB   720x480 (29.97 fps) MPEG-2   15 MB   720x480 (29.97 fps) DV             72 MB   320x240 (29.97 fps) X-FLV       709 KB How to play our movies    The color overlay represents the brightness temperature observed in one of the HSB channels. The most important color is blue, which indicates intense convection and likely rain cells. Green generally indicates thick clouds, while red indicates thin low clouds. (Microwave, unlike infrared, penetrates clouds and looks into them or even through them.) Available formats:   1920 x 1080     TIFF 1 MB   160 x 80           PNG       12 KB   320 x 180         JPEG       9 KB   80 x 40             PNG         4 KB    The deepest red from HSB has been removed from the overlay, so that grey indicates clouds detected by AIRS that are more or less transparent to HSB. Available formats:   1920 x 1080     TIFF 1 MB   320 x 180         JPEG     14 KB    Super-Typhoon Pongsona struck the U.S. Island of Guam on December 8, 2002. Available formats:   1920 x 1080     TIFF 1 MB   320 x 180         JPEG     15 KB    None Available formats:   720 x 528         JPEG   135 KB   320 x 234         PNG     344 KB Animation Number: 2657 Completed: 2003-01-27 Animator: Stuart A. Snodgrass (GST) (Lead) Scientists: Sharon Okonek (NASA/JPL CalTech)   Bjorn H. Lambrigtsen (NASA/JPL CalTech) Platforms/Sensors/Data Sets: Aqua/AIRS   Terra and Aqua/MODIS/Blue Marble: Next Generation Data Collected: 2002/12/08 Video: SVS2003-0003 * Keywords: DLESE >> Atmospheric science DLESE >> Natural hazards SVS >> Supertyphoon Pongsona     Please give credit for this item to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio *Please note: the SVS does not fulfill requests for copies of the tapes in our library. On some of our animation pages, there is a direct link to a video distribution service from which tapes, handled by the Public Affairs Office (PAO)/Goddard TV, including some of our animations may be ordered. General information on this service can be found here. Back to Top + Privacy Policy and Important Notices + Reproduction Guidelines NASA Official: SVS Contact: Curator: