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Hurricanes and Typhoons
Overview
A collection of data visualizations and imagery for tropical cyclones, including hurricanes and typhoons.
For more resources, visit the links below:
Historic Storms
Tropical Cyclones: Visualizations
Tropical Cyclones: Visible Imagery
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Hurricane and Tropical Cyclone Image Gallery
Gallery of visible imagery of tropical cyclones.
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Views of Hurricane Florence at Landfall
Cameras outside the International Space Station captured views of Hurricane Florence on Sept. 14 at 7:41 a.m. EDT minutes after the storm made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina packing winds of 90 miles an hour. The National Hurricane Center said Florence is moving very slowly to the west at only 6 miles an hour, then is expected to turn to the southwest, increasing the threat for historic storm surge and catastrophic flooding to coastline areas and inland cities in North Carolina and South Carolina.
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Landfall of Hurricane Michael from Space
Cameras outside the International Space Station captured views of Hurricane Michael at 12:58 p.m. EDT Oct. 10 from an altitude of 255 miles as the storm made landfall as a category 4 hurricane over the Florida panhandle. The National Hurricane Center reported maximum sustained winds near 150 mph with the potential to bring dangerous storm surge and heavy rains to the Florida panhandle area.
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Trio of Hurricanes Over the Pacific Ocean
Trio of Hurricanes Over the Pacific Ocean || Hurricanes traversing the Pacific Ocean are often solitary storms. Occasionally they show up in pairs. But according to meteorologists, August 2015 marked the first time in recorded history that three Category 4 storms simultaneously paraded over the central and eastern Pacific. This image pair shows hurricanes Kilo, Ignacio, and Jimena (from west to east) at night, and about 12 hours later during daylight hours. The nighttime image is a mosaic, based on data collected during three orbital passes of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite, acquired between 11:30 PM and 3:00 AM Hawaii Standard Time on August 29-30. The second natural-color image is also a mosaic, acquired by VIIRS between about 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM Hawaii Standard Time on August 30. At the time, all three hurricanes were Category 4 storms. Hurricane Kilo had maximum sustained winds of 215 km (135 mi) per hour, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Meanwhile, Hurricane Ignacio had similar sustained wind speeds that measured 220 km (140 mi) per hour. Huricane Jimena, the easternmost of the three storms, carried maximum sustained winds of about 210 km (130 mi) per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. ||
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Hurricane Watch
NASA tracks two storms churning in the Pacific Ocean. || In late August 2015, NASA satellites observed three hurricanes simultaneously traveling west across the Pacific Ocean. Almost exactly one year later, two powerful storms were spotted whirling on a similar course. Hurricane Madeline and Lester began as tropical storms in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Within days of their formation, the storms intensified into Category 4 hurricanes, with maximum sustained winds near 130 mph. On August 29, 2016, satellite images showed both storms appeared to be headed toward Hawaii. On September 1, 2016, Madeline passed south of the Big Island of Hawaii and by that time had weakened significantly. Hurricane Lester continues to march west across the central Pacific Ocean. Explore the video and images for views of the storms captured from space. ||
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Hurricane Crossing
NASA observes three powerful storms simultaneously whipping across the Pacific Ocean.
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Tropical Storm Bill
Explore views of the storm taken from space. || Although scientists predict 2015 will be a quiet year for Atlantic hurricanes, two storms have already been given names this season. The latest, Bill, was classified as a tropical storm when it made landfall over southeastern Texas on June 16, 2015. The storm produced high winds and heavy rains that triggered severe floods in parts of Texas and Oklahoma. From Earth orbit, astronauts aboard the International Space Station and NASA satellites captured images of the storm as it developed over the Gulf of Mexico, crossed onto land and traveled east over the United States. NASA’s GPM Core Observatory satellite also collected data of the storm’s rainfall rates. The data was combined with measurements from other satellites to estimate the storm’s accumulated rainfall and determine which areas were hit the hardest. Watch the video to see GPM’s view of the storm on June 17, 2015. ||
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Hurricane Irene
This visualization follows the development of Hurricane Irene as it moves up the East Coast of the United States in August of 2011. There are three versions of this visualization. Two of the versions follow the eye of the storm until it dissipates, then pulls back to reveal the rain fall accumulation track as measured by the Tropcical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) using two different color tables. The first version only includes rainfall along the storm track. The second and third versions include all rainfall. The third version shows the rainfall accumulating as the storm moves.These visualizations were created to support presenstations at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) 2011. ||
Near Real-Time Global Precipitation
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Near Real-Time Global Precipitation from the Global Precipitation Measurement Constellation
An animation of the most currently available global precipitation data from IMERG. ||
Edited Features
Spacecraft Animations
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Earth Observing Fleet (October 2018)
NASA's Earth Science Fleet as of October 2018 || This animation shows the orbits of NASA's fleet of Earth observing spacecraft that are considered operational as of October 2018. New elements in this version include the ICESat-2 and Cloudsat/CALIPSO in new orbits. The clouds used in this version are from a high resolution GEOS model run at 10 minute time steps interpolated down to the per-frame level.Spacecraft included:AquaAuraCALIPSO: Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite ObservationCYGNSS-1: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 1CYGNSS-2: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 2CYGNSS-3: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 3CYGNSS-4: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 4CYNGSS-5: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 5CYGNSS-6: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 6CYGNSS-7: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 7CYGNSS-8: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 8CloudsatDSCOVR: Deep Space Climate ObservatoryGPM: Global Precipitation MeasurementGRACE-FO-1: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On-1GRACE-FO-2: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On-2ICESat-2ISS: International Space StationJason 2Jason 3Landsat 7Landsat 8OCO-2: Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2SMAP: Soil Moisture Passive ActiveSORCE: Solar Radiation and Climate ExperimentSuomi NPP: Suomi National Polar-orbiting PartnershipTerra ||
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GPM Core Spacecraft Beauty Passes
A variety of animated beauty passes of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core spacecraft. || Various beauty passes of the GPM Core spacecraft. || The GPM Core satellite cruises over a hurricane. ||
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GOES-R
The new generation GOES-R satellites will carry significant improvements and technology innovation on board. GOES-R will be able to deliver a full globe scan in only 5 minutes, compared to the 25 minutes needed for the same task with the current GOES satellites. GOES-R's lightning mapper instrument is expected to improve warning lead time for severe storms and tornadoes by 50%. This without a doubt will help predict severe weather in advance and save more lives. This reel is a compilation of finished productions about the GOES-R mission as well as supporting materials such as animations, visualizations, and still images.
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Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Constellation
Nine U.S. and international satellites will soon be united by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, a partnership co-led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). NASA and JAXA will provide the GPM Core satellite to serve as a reference for precipitation measurements made by this constellation of satellites, which will be combined into a single global dataset continually refreshed every three hours. While each partner satellite has its own mission objective, they all carry a type of instrument called a radiometer that measures radiated energy from rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core satellite carries two instruments: a state-of-the-art radiometer called the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and the first space-borne Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), which sees the 3D structure of falling rain and snow. The DPR and GMI work in concert to provide a unique database that will be used to improve the accuracy and consistency of measurements from all partner satellites, which will then be combined into the uniform global precipitation dataset. In this animation the orbit paths of the partner satellites of the GPM constellation fill in blue as the instruments pass over Earth. Rainfall appears light blue for light rain, yellow for moderate, and red for heavy rain. Partner satellites are traced in green and purple, and the GPM Core is traced in red. The GPM Core observatory is currently being built and tested at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. It is scheduled to launch from Tanegashima space center in Japan in early 2014. ||
More Resources
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Global Precipitation Measurement
Jan. 1st, 2000
(updated March 17th, 2023)The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is an international network of satellites that provide the next-generation global observations of rain and snow. Building upon the success of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the GPM concept centers on the deployment of a "Core" satellite carrying an advanced radar / radiometer system to measure precipitation from space and serve as a reference standard to unify precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational satellites. Through improved measurements of precipitation globally, the GPM mission will help to advance our understanding of Earth's water and energy cycle, improve forecasting of extreme events that cause natural hazards and disasters, and extend current capabilities in using accurate and timely information of precipitation to directly benefit society. GPM, initiated by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as a global successor to TRMM, comprises a consortium of international space agencies, including the Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and others. The GPM Core Observatory launched from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, at 1:37 PM EST on February 27, 2014.For more information and resources please visit the Precipitation Measurement Missions web site.
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Hurricane Resource Page
2015 hurricane resource reelThis Reel Includes the Following Sections TRT 50:10Hurricane Overviews 1:02; Hurricane Arthur 15:07; Cyclone Pam 19:48; Typhoon Hagupit 21:27; Hurricane Bertha 22:03;Hurricanes Iselle and Julio 23:15; September 2014 Hurricane Alley 25:07; Satellite Beauty Passes 28:31; Hurricane Katrina 36:32; Global Portrait of Precipitation42:00; Typhoon Halong 42:36; Typhoon Maysak43:13; Superstorm Sandy 44:21;Hurricanes Fay and Gonzalo 45:29; RapidScat 46:12; CYGNSS 49:16Super(s): NASA;Center Contact: Rob Gutro 301-286-4044HQ Contact: Steve Cole 202-358-0918 ||
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Near Real-Time Global Precipitation from the Global Precipitation Measurement Constellation
An animation of the most currently available global precipitation data from IMERG. ||
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The View from Space: Data Visualizations of Hurricane Katrina
Aug. 5th, 2015In the last week of August 2005, what had originated as a disturbance off the western coast of Africa transformed into a devastating storm, ravaging the southern United States. Water consumed the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, submerging chunks of Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. NASA’s satellites watched the devastation from overhead, sending down a deluge of data that scientists would study for years to come. For more information about Hurricane Katrina: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2005/h2005_katrina.html
Visuals
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TRMM 3D Hurricanes
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Hurricane-SST Connection