Inside Hurricane Maria in 360°
- Visualizations by:
- Greg Shirah
- Scientific consulting by:
- George Huffman
- View full credits
Tour Hurricane Maria in a whole new way! Late on September 17, 2017 (10:08 p.m. EDT) Category 1 Hurricane Maria was strengthening in the Atlantic Ocean when the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory flew over it. The Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar, measuring in a narrow band over the storm center, shows 3-D estimates of rain, with snow at higher altitudes. The tall "hot towers" characteristic of deepening hurricanes are actually topped by snow! Surface rainfall rates estimated by the GPM Microwave Imager paint the surface over a wider swath. During the tour, you'll see the radar-observed rain intensities displayed three different ways in various parts of the storm. Then, for the first time you'll see estimates of the precipitation particle sizes, which the GPM DPR is uniquely capable of showing, and which provide important insights into storm processes.
GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
Visualization of Hurricane Maria. These are full 360 degree frames. These fames appear warped because they include the entire 360 degree view.
This video is also available on our YouTube channel.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Visualizers
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
- Alex Kekesi (GST)
- Devika Elakara (GSFC Interns)
- Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC)
- Kel Elkins (USRA)
Scientists
- George Huffman (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
- Dalia B Kirschbaum (NASA/GSFC)
- Scott Braun (NASA/GSFC)
- Stephen J. Munchak (University of Maryland)
Producers
- Joy Ng (KBRwyle)
- Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBRwyle)
Support
- Joycelyn Thomson Jones (NASA/GSFC)
- Leann Johnson (GST)
Technical support
- Ian Jones (ADNET)
- Laurence Schuler (ADNET)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Datasets used in this visualization
IMERG
GPM Volumetric Precipitation data (A.K.A. Ku) (Collected with the DPR sensor)
Credit: Data provided by the joint NASA/JAXA GPM mission.
See more visualizations using this data setGPM Rain Rates (A.K.A. Surface Precipitation) (Collected with the GMI sensor)
Credit: Data provided by the joint NASA/JAXA GPM mission.
See more visualizations using this data setNote: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.
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