NASA watches Hurricane Dorian from orbit

NASA is watching Hurricane Dorian as it continues its threatening advance across the Atlantic Ocean. A series of satellites captured data and images of the monster storm, and images were captured from the International Space Station (ISS).

At 8:00 am EDT on August 30, it was recorded that Hurricane Dorian was blowing maximum sustained winds of nearly 110 mph (175 km / h). This information was captured by instruments aboard a reconnaissance aircraft from the US Air Force Reserve. However, NASA has been monitoring the giant for a long time.

Hundreds of kilometers above the storm, robotic eyes probe the strength and composition of the weather system and capture vivid images.

On July 27, NASA's CloudSat Orbiter had already created a 3D animation of the storm's internal structure, using radar to pierce dense clouds and reveal the complex layers of clouds and their disparate heights. CloudSat data also revealed that some of the clouds were 15 km above the ocean and that 52 km / h (84 km / h) winds were raging inland.

Later, on August 28, at an altitude of 400 km (400 km) above the meteorological system, the TEMPEST-D cubesat was busy breaking through the clouds with its miniaturized radio-wave instrument and observing the humidity of the storm. .

NASA / JPL-Caltech

In the TEMPEST-D image, the areas of heaviest precipitation are indicated by the yellow to pink colors in the center of the image. Further, the green areas indicate that moisture masses are sucked further into the storm.

Above TEMPEST-D, a video of the storm was captured in the International Space Station as it traveled more than 420 km from the Earth's surface, at a speed of about 8 km / s.

From an orbital point of view, a camera installed outside the station captured a Dorian video at 13:05. EDT August 29, as the hurricane deepened off the north coast of Puerto Rico.

Just 25 minutes later at 1:30 pm EDT, NASA's Aqua satellite collected additional data on the weather system. Thanks to its AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) instrument, which measures the infrared and microwave radiation emitted by the storm, Aqua was able to better understand the temperature, humidity, cloud volume and height of Dorian.

In the AIRS image, the cold clouds, heavily laden with rain, plunged high into the atmosphere by storms encrusted in the depths of the storm are represented in purple. The blue and green areas are warmer and warmer cloud masses, while the orange and red areas indicate regions largely free of clouds.

NASA JPL / Heidar Thrastarson

According to the US National Hurricane Center, the storm will result in a life-threatening rains of rain, heavy rains and devastating winds over the northwestern Bahamas and parts of the east coast of Florida during the late summer. week and next week.

You'll find information on how to protect yourself if you're on the verge of a hurricane on the Department of Homeland Security's Ready.gov website.

Source: NASA