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Maps
of Falling Water: Three Years of TRMM Data - Page Three
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A LEGACY
OF DISCOVERY
Everyone
knows something
about the rain. But one of the best parts about scientific
research is discovering just how much we don't know. TRMM
has been just such an instrument of discovery. In little more
than three years, this Japanese and American joint effort
has provided huge returns to the science community, from greater
understanding of how tropical rainfall affects overall climate,
to the energy budget surrounding global desert regions, to
revolutionary ways for studying hurricanes. In this section
we take a look at some of the TRMM program's most exciting
work.
Most
images on this page can be clicked on to bring up animations
To
return to the first
page of images and movies, click here.
For the
purposes of understanding color codes:
Color
bar for the monthly rainfall amounts (above)
Color
bar for the anomaly rainfall amounts (above)
Rainfall
Predictions - Dramatic Improvements with the "Super-ensemble"
Model
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on pic for animation
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TRMM has been highly successful in increasing meteorological
forecasting capabilities. Using the new "super-ensemble" forecasting
technique, the following visualizations compare one day forecasts
from September of that year to the collected daily observations
of actual rainfall. This technique combines existing forecast
models with satellite rainfall data. Tests show that the accuracy
of tropical three-day rainfall forecasts can be improved as
much as 100% by this method. In the following images gathered
during September 1999, compare the month's collected one-day
forecasts to the collected daily observations of actual rainfall.
It was during that month that Hurricanes Floyd and Irene drenched
much of the East Coast. In this representation the overall
forecasting trend through time is more significant than precise
matching of the rainfall areas depicted by the color map shown.
The tropics are notoriously hard for daily precipitation prediction.
This new forecasting technique is a major improvement over
earlier methods.
Predicting
Hurricane Intensity Far from Land
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For
years scientists have known of a 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. But researchers working
with TRMM have developed a technique for looking through clouds
with microwaves. This technique is likely to enhance forecasters'
abilities to predict the intensity of hurricanes before the
storms' massive energies fully develop.
Cause
and Effect: Bonnie's Trail Weakens Danielle
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on pic for animation
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A
hurricane gathers energy from warm waters found in tropical
latitudes. In this image we see Hurricane Bonnie cross the
Atlantic, leaving a cooler trail of water in its wake. When
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. But once Danielle crosses Bonnie's
wake, notice how winds speed increase due to temperature increases
in surface water around the storm.
Seeing
Surface Temperature through Clouds
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on pic for animation
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The
clouds shown in this image were collected by the Geostationary
Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). Surface temperatures
were gathered by TMI, the TRMM Microwave Imager. Notice how
the ocean area directly following each storm registers as
slightly cooler than surrounding ocean water. This is due
to the nature of hurricanes in that they power themselves
on heat found near the surface in tropical oceans.
Studying
the Heartbeat of Hurricanes
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on pic for animation
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Scientists
using TRMM can now look inside hurricanes and better understand
how they work by using a unique suite of active and passive
sensors capable of measuring rainfall and sea surface temperature.
Hurricanes act essentially as powerful engines, drawing energy
up from warm tropical ocean waters to power the churning,
swirling winds of their radial arms.
"CAT"
Scans and Crystal Towers
  
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on pics for animations
The
following hurricane visualizations were developed using data
from TRMM's precipitation radar. The images that dissect the
storm into layers have come to be known informally as "CAT"
scans for their resemblance to the medical technology that
can peer inside a person's body. The term crystal towers for
the 3-D, rotating images of the storms simply describes their
majestic, prismatic spires rendered in electronic paint above
the surface of a virtual ocean. High rates of rainfall appear
in red, with lesser amounts appearing in blue. By mapping
the structure of storms, experts can "take them apart" in
the laboratory as they try to understand how they work. TRMM
gathered data for these images of hurricanes Mitch, Georges,
and Earl in 1998.
Hurricane
Bonnie
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on pic for animation
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These
images of Hurricane Bonnie come from the rain radar flying
aboard TRMM. They show a cumulonimbus (storm) cloud towering
59,000 feet into the sky from the eyewall. Scientists believe
that towering cloud structures like this are probably precursors
to hurricane intensification. The satellite obtained these
images on August 22, 1998.
El
Nino Sea Surface Temperatures
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Satellite
observations trace the evolution of warmer than normal Pacific
waters associated with El Nino (shown in red) from its peak
in December 1997 through its decline in early 1998. TRMM's
Microwave Imager collected the data for these observations.
TRMM:
Watching Rain to Help Explain
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for second animation
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The
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is the first Earth
Science mission dedicated to studying tropical and subtropical
rainfall, precipitation that falls within 35 degrees north
and 35 degrees south of the equator. Tropical rainfall comprises
more than two-thirds of the world's total. The satellite uses
several instruments to detect rainfall including radar, microwave
imaging, and lightning sensors. Flying at a low orbital altitude
of 217 miles (350 kilometers), TRMM's study of tropical rainfall
and attendant processes will help improve our understanding
and predictions of global climate change. The Japanese space
agency (NASDA) launched the satellite on an H-II rocket from
Tanegashima Space Center on November 27, 1997. TRMM data is
available to researchers around the world; it is managed by
a team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Maryland.
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