News by Subject Atmospheric Science

Two NASA satellites observed Tropical Storm Ampil in six and a half hours and found the storm's heaviest rainfall occurring in a band of thunderstorms shifted from north to south of the center. NASA's GPM satellite passed over the storm first and NASA's Aqua satellite made the second pass.

When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean on July 19, the large Tropical Storm Ampil appeared much more organized than it did the previous day.

Tropical Cyclone Son-Tinh made landfall in Vietnam and left a trail of heavy rainfall in its wake. NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite provided an estimate of that soggy trail through the Gulf of Tonkin.

Although clouds grow and dissipate all of the time, scientists think that low-lying clouds off the coast of subtropical Africa are being disrupted not simply by wind from the continent, but rather by a wave mechanism. For climate models, the way the clouds are being disrupted could make a big difference.

Tropical Depression 12W formed in the Philippine Sea and NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite analyzed the storm in infrared light. The depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Ampil later on July 18.

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite flew over Tropical Storm Son-Tinh on July 18 after it crossed over Hainan Island, China and as it moved into the Gulf of Tonkin.