video: The Global Precipitation Measurement mission core satellite provided many views of Tropical Cyclone over its very long life. GPM is a satellite co-managed by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency that has the ability to analyze rainfall and cloud heights. GPM was able to provide data on Kilo over its 21 day life-span. The GPM core observatory satellite flew over Kilo on August 25, 2015 at 0121 UTC as it approached Johnson Atoll and found that rainfall intensity had recently increased and the tropical depression's storm tops were very tall. GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) discovered that rain was falling at a rate of almost 65 mm (2.6 inches) per hour and storm tops were measured at altitudes of over 15.4 km (9.5 miles) Kilo was born in the Central Pacific Ocean on August 21, became a hurricane, crossed the International Dateline and was re-classified as a Typhoon and finally became extra-tropical on September 11 off Hokkaido, Japan, the northernmost of Japan's main islands. view more
Credit: NASA