TRMM Microwave Measurements during Hurricane Katrina: Horizontal Polarization

  • Released Wednesday, October 5, 2005
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The TMI instrument on the TRMM satellite measures microwaves emitted from the Earth's land and water. By comparing emission from different microwave frequencies, the characteristics of ice and water in the atmosphere can be determined. For example, 85 GHz microwaves are scattered by ice crystals in tropical cyclones, making cyclone rain bands appear 'colder' than the surrounding areas. By comparing 85 GHz temperatures in different polarizations with other frequency band measurements, accurate measurements of rainfall in the atmosphere can be made. This animation shows eight days of global TMI 85 GHz measurements in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane Katrina rainbands clearly show up in these images.

Horizontally polarized 85GHz microwave brightness temperatures measured by the TMI instrument on TRMM from August 22, 2005 through August 30, 2005, during Hurricane Katrina.

This product is available through our Web Map Service.

Color bar for the brightness temperature.

Color bar for the brightness temperature.

For More Information

See http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

This page was originally published on Wednesday, October 5, 2005.
This page was last updated on Sunday, November 12, 2023 at 10:00 PM EST.

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