1 Dec. 2004
This image, produced from data collected by the SeaWinds scatterometer
instrument onboard NASA's QuikScat mission reveals the details of the
surface winds and rain in Typhoon Nanmadol as it moves westward. The data
was collected on 1 Dec. 2004 at approximately 8 in the morning.
SeaWinds uses radar to peer through clouds and darkness to measure the
near-surface wind speed over the ocean on a daily global basis. In this
image of Typhoon Nanmadol, ocean wind speed is shown in color with wind
barbs showing the wind direction. The Typhoon eye is visible as a brown
patch within the purple area of most intense wind speeds (50+ knots) and
rain. The red area of high winds (30+ knots) extends over 800 km around
the eye. The grey area in the center left is the Island of Yap. The
typhoon is moving about 28 mph to the west-northwest and is gathering
strength before it hits the Phillipines a few days later, leading to 1000
casulties according to Reuters.
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.
QuikScat Background
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. More information about the QuikScat
mission and observations is available at http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov.
QuikScat is managed for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington,
DC, by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. JPL also built the
SeaWinds radar instrument and is providing ground science processing
systems. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, managed
development of the satellite, designed and built by Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., Boulder, CO. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration has contributed support to ground systems processing and
related activities.