Earth Science Gallery
2002 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES
Tape Title
Record ID
Date Produced
TRT:
Synopsis
NASA LOOKS A HURRICANE'S TEMPERATURE IN THE EYE
G02-031 4/30/02 00:06:52 The eye of a hurricane may be the calm of the storm, but it is also houses the heat that fuels the strength of its fury. During hurricane season 2001, NASA researchers found a new way to improve hurricane forecasting. They took the temperature of the eye of Hurricane Erin and found that the warmest portion around a hurricane's eye is about 3.5 miles high and corresponds with falling pressure, causing winds to spiral inward at destructive speeds. The new data will help scientists understand the inner workings of hurricanes at very high altitudes, where the secrets to storm intensity spin to life.
TAPE CONTENTS:
ITEM (1): Hurricane Erin "CAT scan" - Here is the first look at the three dimensional distribution of temperatures at the eye of a hurricane. Erin's rainfall distribution is first shown, with red being the area of highest activity and blue lowest. The image then fades to clouds and the hurricane's heat engine appears, shaded in red. The warm, humid, rising air is the key to the hurricane's power. The rising air draws in air from the surface to take its place, and creates winds.
Credit: NASA
ITEM (2): Storm Thermometers - Researchers dropped sensors called 'dropsondes' into Hurricane Erin from NASA ER-2 aircraft to measure temperature, pressure, moisture, and wind readings throughout different locations in the hurricane. Variations in temperatures within a hurricane provide clues about the storms intensity. For example, strong storms are characterized by a warm center marked by a large temperature contrast compared to the rest of the hurricane.
Credit: NASA
ITEM (3): Above The Atmosphere - Pilots of NASA's ER-2 aircraft, a civilian version of the U-2 spy plane, must wear space suits since their work takes them 65,000 feet into the air, high above the atmosphere. The pilot flies 35,000 feet above the hurricane and can release eight dropsondes into the eye of the storm.
Credits: NASA
ITEM (4): Hurricane Erin - Hurricane Erin was the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2001 season, heating up on September 8. A category-three hurricane, it brushed Bermuda, moved east and then northeast before dissipating off the Newfoundland coast. The Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra spacecraft saw it on September 9, 2001.
Credits: NASA, USFS
ITEM (5): Monitoring From Space - Dropsonde data is a part of the CAMEX-4 project, a study of hurricane development tracking intensification and landfall impacts using NASA aircraft and surface remote instruments. Whenever possible, scientists combine and validate these measurements with observations taken by Earth-orbiting satellites like Terra and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM.)
Credits: NASA, USFS
ITEM (6): TRMM Instrument - The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission is the first spaceborne rain radar. It measures precipitation distribution over land and sea.
Credits: NASA
ITEM (7): TERRA Spacecraft - Launched December 18, 1999, NASA's Terra Satellite is the flagship of the Earth Observing System series of satellites, part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term research program dedicated to understanding how human-induced and natural changes affect our global environment.
Credits: NASA
[Hurricane Erin "CAT scan" Movie(Caution: 24.5 MB)]
[Hurricane Erin "CAT scan" Movie (Caution: 7.38 MB)]
NOTE: The material advertised on this page is a "Video File" and is strictly recommended for the media and production companies. This is NOT a finished production but does contain some narration.
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[Return to the Earth Science Catalog]
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Earth Science Gallery
2002 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: | Synopsis |
| NASA LOOKS A HURRICANE'S TEMPERATURE IN THE EYE | G02-031 | 4/30/02 | 00:06:52 | The eye of a hurricane may be the calm of the storm, but it is also houses the heat that fuels the strength of its fury. During hurricane season 2001, NASA researchers found a new way to improve hurricane forecasting. They took the temperature of the eye of Hurricane Erin and found that the warmest portion around a hurricane's eye is about 3.5 miles high and corresponds with falling pressure, causing winds to spiral inward at destructive speeds. The new data will help scientists understand the inner workings of hurricanes at very high altitudes, where the secrets to storm intensity spin to life. |
TAPE CONTENTS: |
||||
| ITEM (1): Hurricane Erin "CAT scan" - Here is the first look at the three dimensional distribution of temperatures at the eye of a hurricane. Erin's rainfall distribution is first shown, with red being the area of highest activity and blue lowest. The image then fades to clouds and the hurricane's heat engine appears, shaded in red. The warm, humid, rising air is the key to the hurricane's power. The rising air draws in air from the surface to take its place, and creates winds. Credit: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (2): Storm Thermometers - Researchers dropped sensors called 'dropsondes' into Hurricane Erin from NASA ER-2 aircraft to measure temperature, pressure, moisture, and wind readings throughout different locations in the hurricane. Variations in temperatures within a hurricane provide clues about the storms intensity. For example, strong storms are characterized by a warm center marked by a large temperature contrast compared to the rest of the hurricane. Credit: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (3): Above The Atmosphere - Pilots of NASA's ER-2 aircraft, a civilian version of the U-2 spy plane, must wear space suits since their work takes them 65,000 feet into the air, high above the atmosphere. The pilot flies 35,000 feet above the hurricane and can release eight dropsondes into the eye of the storm. Credits: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (4): Hurricane Erin - Hurricane Erin was the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2001 season, heating up on September 8. A category-three hurricane, it brushed Bermuda, moved east and then northeast before dissipating off the Newfoundland coast. The Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra spacecraft saw it on September 9, 2001. Credits: NASA, USFS | ||||
| ITEM (5): Monitoring From Space - Dropsonde data is a part of the CAMEX-4 project, a study of hurricane development tracking intensification and landfall impacts using NASA aircraft and surface remote instruments. Whenever possible, scientists combine and validate these measurements with observations taken by Earth-orbiting satellites like Terra and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM.) Credits: NASA, USFS | ||||
| ITEM (6): TRMM Instrument - The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission is the first spaceborne rain radar. It measures precipitation distribution over land and sea. Credits: NASA | ||||
| ITEM (7): TERRA Spacecraft - Launched December 18, 1999, NASA's Terra Satellite is the flagship of the Earth Observing System series of satellites, part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term research program dedicated to understanding how human-induced and natural changes affect our global environment. Credits: NASA | ||||
[Hurricane Erin "CAT scan" Movie(Caution: 24.5 MB)] [Hurricane Erin "CAT scan" Movie (Caution: 7.38 MB)]
NOTE: The material advertised on this page is a "Video File" and is strictly recommended for the media and production companies. This is NOT a finished production but does contain some narration.
[HOME] [Return to the Earth Science Catalog] [How to order videotapes]