A small satellite looks at Hurricane Florence



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A new experimental meteorological satellite no larger than a cereal box has had a glimpse of Hurricane Florence in a technology test that could influence the future of storm monitoring since the early summer. space. The satellite took its first footage of Hurricane Florence on Tuesday, September 11, just hours after turning on his instrument.

TEMPEST-D, which was deployed last July in Low Earth Orbit from the International Space Station, carries a state-of-the-art miniaturized microwave radiometer, an instrument that can see inside storms a security scanner can see inside luggage at the airport.

The image taken by TEMPEST-D (Temporal Experience for the Demonstration of Tropical Storms and Systems) captures Florence over the Atlantic Ocean, revealing the eye of the storm surrounded by rains of rain high and intense. The green areas highlight the extent of rainfall generated by the storm, with the heaviest rainfall being indicated in yellow and red. The TEMPEST-D data contrasts with a visible image of Florence that shows the cyclone-like clouds of the storm, but does not reveal what's inside.

TEMPEST-D's mission is to test new inexpensive technologies that could be used in the future to collect more meteorological data and help researchers better understand storms. The level of detail of the small satellite image is similar to that produced by existing meteorological satellites.

"We have been challenged to integrate this instrument into such a small satellite without compromising data quality and we are excited to see it working immediately," said Sharmila Padmanabhan, who led the development of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory instruments. from NASA.

Shrinked weather satellites may one day help scientists provide more frequent updates on developing storms.

"TEMPEST-D paves the way for future missions where we can afford to pilot many of these miniaturized meteorological satellites into constellations, and this deployment would allow us to watch the storms as they grow," said Steven Reising. , principal investigator of TEMPEST-D. at Colorado State University.

TEMPEST-D is a technology demonstration mission led by Colorado State University and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in partnership with Blue Canyon Technologies and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The mission is sponsored by NASA's Earth Ventures program and managed by the Earth Science Technology Office. The radiometer was built by JPL and uses high frequency microwave amplification technology developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Related Links

TEMPEST-D at JPL

Putting order in a world of disasters
When the earth will tremble
A world of thunderstorms and storms



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