Earth ID: 1068

Sea Surface Temperature and Hurricane Connections: TRMM - August 22, 1998 Through September 3, 1998

Visualizations by Tom Bridgman Released on May 4, 2000

For years scientists have known of the strong correlation between sea surface temperature and the intensity of hurricanes. But one of the major stumbling blocks for forecasters has been the precise measurement of those temperatures when a storm begins to form. Traditional techniques for sea surface temperature measurement can not see through clouds.

Now researchers using the TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) satellite have developed a technique for looking through clouds that is likely to enhance forecasters' abilities to predict hurricane intensity before their massive energies fully develop. A hurricane gathers energy from warm waters found in tropical latitudes.

As Hurricane Bonnie crosses the Atlantic, it leaves a cooler trail of water in its wake. As Hurricane Danielle crosses Bonnie's path, the wind speed of the second storm drops markedly, as available energy to fuel the storm's engine drops off. As Danielle crosses Bonnie's wake, however, winds speeds increase due to temperature increases in surface water around the storm.

An animation of sea surface temperatures from TRMM in the Atlantic from August 22, 1998 through September 3, 1998. The ocean is cooled by the passage of Hurricane Bonnie and then by the passage of Hurricane Danielle.

An image of sea surface temperatures from TRMM in the Atlantic on August 28, 1998. This image shows the wake of cool water left by Hurricane Bonnie as it approached the East Coast of the United States. On this date, Bonnie is over Cape Hatteras.

For More Information

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/stories/hurricanes/index.html

Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Chris Kummerow (NASA/GSFC): Scientist

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

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/1068

Mission:
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission - TRMM

Data Used:

TRMM/TMI/Sea Surface Temperature

1998/08/22-1998/09/03

http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/datapool/TRMM/01_Data_Products/index.html

view all stories where this data set is used

Note: 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.

Dates of Data Used:
1998/08/22-1998/09/03

This item is part of this series:
Hurricane-SST Connection

Keywords:
DLESE >> Agricultural science
DLESE >> Natural hazards
DLESE >> Physical oceanography
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Phenomena >> Hurricanes
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0