News by Subject Atmospheric Science

Forecasters use a variety of satellite imagery to understand what's happening in a storm, and sometimes just a visible picture can tell a lot. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided forecasters with a visible image of the storm that showed wind shear was pushing clouds away from the storm's center.

As Tropical Storm Lorena was nearing landfall in northwestern Mexico, NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided forecasters with an image of the storm. By Monday, Sept. 23, Lorena's remnants were affecting the southern U.S. and bringing heavy rainfall to Arizona.

Tropical Storm Tapah had taken on an elongated shape as it moved through the Sea of Japan, between South Korea and Japan. When the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed over Tapah, it measured rainfall as the storm was becoming extra-tropical.

Tropical Storm Tapah has a huge 'tail' on NASA satellite imagery. NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of the northwestern Pacific Ocean storm that revealed a large band of thunderstorms that resemble a large tail. The NASA imagery also indicated that the storm is getting better organized.

NASA's Terra satellite is one in a fleet of NASA satellites that provide data for research. Terra captured an image of Tropical Storm Kiko in the Eastern Pacific Ocean which showed the extent of the small storm.

Two tropical cyclones are very close together near the coast of western Mexico. Hurricane Lorena was moving over the southern tip of Baja California, and Tropical Storm Mario was south of Lorena over the Eastern Pacific Ocean. NASA calculated the rainfall rates happening in both of those tropical cyclones.

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over the North Atlantic Ocean and used infrared light to obtain temperature information about Hurricane Jerry's cold cloud tops.

NASA estimated extreme rainfall over eastern Texas from the remnants of Tropical Depression Imelda using a NASA satellite rainfall product that incorporates data from satellites and observations.

Satellite data has confirmed that Humberto, once a major hurricane is now a post-tropical cyclone. NASA's Terra Satellite provided a visible image of Post-Tropical Cyclone Humberto as it continued moving in an easterly direction through the North Atlantic Ocean.

In independent studies, 2 Princeton University research teams recently identified surprisingly large sources of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, being leaked into the atmosphere.