A Satellite Combination Covers Hurricane Carlos

Tropical Depression 4E in the eastern Pacific became Hurricane Carlos over the weekend as expected. Carlos reached hurricane status on Saturday, July 11 at 5 p.m. EDT when it was about 1,000 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Twenty-four hours later at 5 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 12, Carlos dropped back down to Tropical Storm status. Three satellites captured images of Carlos' transition, and two of the satellite images were combined for more in-depth view.

Images from two satellites were combined to get a closer look at Hurricane Carlos. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite flew over the tropical storm on July 13 at 6:46 a.m. EDT (1046 UTC) and captured the horizontal pattern of rain intensity within Carlos. Sixteen minutes earlier, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-11) flew overhead and took an infrared image of Carlos' clouds. GOES-11 used infrared imagery to capture the heat of Carlos' clouds in order to create an image, because it was still night-time (3:46 a.m. PDT) and visible images wouldn't provide an image.

The combined image from GOES-11 and TRMM provide a comprehensive look at the Carlos' clouds and rainfall. In the image, Carlos' center is near the areas of heaviest rains. TRMM images are false-colored to show rainfall intensity. In this image, combined by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory yellow, green and red areas indicate rainfall between 0.6 and 1.2 inches of rainfall per hour. Rainfall in Carlos' center was false-colored purple and white, indicative of heavy rainfall of almost 2 inches per hour.

TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA, and GOES is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. GOES Project Science Office is located at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. where images are processed.

On Monday, July 13 at 11 a.m. EDT, Carlos had moved 370 miles west of where it was born a hurricane and is now 1370 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. That puts its center near 9.6 north latitude and 125.3 west longitude. Carlos had sustained winds near 50 mph, and isn't expected to change in intensity over the next two days. Carlos is moving just south of due west at 14 mph, and has a minimum central pressure near 997 millibars.

Like the GOES-11 satellite, NASA's Aqua satellite has infrared imagery onboard. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard Aqua was used to measure temperatures of Carlos' cold clouds, instead of the extent of the cloud cover. Aqua snapped an image on July 12 at 5:12 p.m. EDT (21:12 UTC). The coldest cloud temperatures were false-colored to appear in purple indicating stronger storms and can be seen as a small round area, indicating Carlos' center. The second coolest cloud temperatures are in blue.

Yellow, green and red areas indicate rainfall between 20 and 40 millimeters (.78 to 1.57 inches) per hour. Red areas are considered moderate rainfall.

The AIRS data creates an accurate 3-D map of atmospheric temperature, water vapor and clouds, all of which are helpful to forecasters.

Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Tropical Depression 4E in the eastern Pacific became Hurricane Carlos over the weekend as expected. Carlos reached hurricane status on Saturday, July 11 at 5 p.m. EDT when it was about 1,000 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Twenty-four hours later at 5 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 12, Carlos dropped back down to Tropical Storm status. Three satellites captured images of Carlos' transition, and two of the satellite images were combined for more in-depth view.

Images from two satellites were combined to get a closer look at Hurricane Carlos. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite flew over the tropical storm on July 13 at 6:46 a.m. EDT (1046 UTC) and captured the horizontal pattern of rain intensity within Carlos. Sixteen minutes earlier, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-11) flew overhead and took an infrared image of Carlos' clouds. GOES-11 used infrared imagery to capture the heat of Carlos' clouds in order to create an image, because it was still night-time (3:46 a.m. PDT) and visible images wouldn't provide an image.

The combined image from GOES-11 and TRMM provide a comprehensive look at the Carlos' clouds and rainfall. In the image, Carlos' center is near the areas of heaviest rains. TRMM images are false-colored to show rainfall intensity. In this image, combined by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory yellow, green and red areas indicate rainfall between 0.6 and 1.2 inches of rainfall per hour. Rainfall in Carlos' center was false-colored purple and white, indicative of heavy rainfall of almost 2 inches per hour.

TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA, and GOES is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. GOES Project Science Office is located at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. where images are processed.

On Monday, July 13 at 11 a.m. EDT, Carlos had moved 370 miles west of where it was born a hurricane and is now 1370 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. That puts its center near 9.6 north latitude and 125.3 west longitude. Carlos had sustained winds near 50 mph, and isn't expected to change in intensity over the next two days. Carlos is moving just south of due west at 14 mph, and has a minimum central pressure near 997 millibars.

Like the GOES-11 satellite, NASA's Aqua satellite has infrared imagery onboard. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard Aqua was used to measure temperatures of Carlos' cold clouds, instead of the extent of the cloud cover. Aqua snapped an image on July 12 at 5:12 p.m. EDT (21:12 UTC). The coldest cloud temperatures were false-colored to appear in purple indicating stronger storms and can be seen as a small round area, indicating Carlos' center. The second coolest cloud temperatures are in blue.

Yellow, green and red areas indicate rainfall between 20 and 40 millimeters (.78 to 1.57 inches) per hour. Red areas are considered moderate rainfall.

The AIRS data creates an accurate 3-D map of atmospheric temperature, water vapor and clouds, all of which are helpful to forecasters.

Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center