3D Rain Helps Hurricane Forecasts

Rain is a key ingredient in hurricanes and meteorologists can make better forecasts if they know how much is falling.

Until recently, it took forever to get up-to-date rainfall measurements and many times the information wasn't useful for forecasting purposes.

Using radar data from NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, scientists at NASA have developed a way to track changes in a hurricane's intensity - and produce a three dimensional image - within three hours.

"With hurricane forecasts, events change quickly, and meteorologists need data as fast as possible," said Jeffrey Halverston, meteorologist and TRMM scientist. "This new process gives them data within three hours from the time the satellite has flown over a tropical cyclone."

The heaviest concentrations of rainfall are found around the eye or center of the hurricane. By determining whether the rainfall is getting stronger or weaker, scientists can determine the overall strength of the hurricane, and whether it is strengthening or weakening.

The image above was captured by the TRMM satellite on September 16, 2004 as Hurricane Ivan was bearing down on Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Georgia. Follow this link for more images and a 3-d animation.

--Bjorn Carey

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Credit: NASA