Earth  ID: 211

Hurricane Bonnie from TRMM and GOES with Cloud Tower: August 22, 1998

These compelling images are from Hurricane Bonnie showing a cumulonimbus storm cloud, towering like a sky scraper, 59,000 feet (18 kilometers) into the sky from the eyewall. Thes images were obtained on Saturday, 22 August 1998, by the world's first spaceboarne rain RADAR aboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), a joint U.S.-Japanese mission. Launched November 27, 1997, the TRMM spacecraft continues to provide exciting new insight into cloud systems over tropical oceans. By comparison, the highest mountain in the world, Mt. Everest, is 29,000 feet (9 kilometers) and the average commercial jet flies at barely one-half the height of Bonnie's cloud tops. Scientists believe that towering cloud structures like this are probably precursors to hurricane intensification. This was the situation with Bonnie whose central pressure dropped from 977 millibars to 957 millibars in the subsequent 24 hours. TRMM is a joint NASA and NASDA mission that was launched November 27, 1997 from the Japanese Space Center, Tanegashima, Japan.
 

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Visualization Credits

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Animator
Chris Kummerow (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/211

Mission:
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission - TRMM

Data 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.

This item is part of this series:
TRMM 3D Hurricanes

Keywords:
DLESE >> Atmospheric science
DLESE >> Natural hazards
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Phenomena >> Hurricanes
SVS >> GOES
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