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| | | | | | | Envisat sees whirling Hurricane Katrina from ocean waves to cloud tops
29 August 2005
| Envisat demonstrates the power of two, with combined optical MERIS and radar ASAR views of the eye of Hurricane Katrina acquired 28 August 2005 over the Gulf of Mexico. The MERIS imagery shows the swirling cloud-tops of the storm, while the ASAR image pierces through the clouds to show the shape of the wind-driven sea surface.
Credits: ESA | |  |  | |
| | | | | Two separate views of Hurricane Katrina acquired 28 August 2005 from instruments aboard Envisat. The ASAR Wide Swath mode radar image of the sea surface shows how Katrina's wind fields are rippling the ocean. Beside it is the MERIS Reduced Resolution mode optical images showing characteristic swirling cloud patterns around the central eye, with the eye walls visible.
Credits: ESA | | | | |
| | | | | Chart showing acquisition locations for Envisat's MERIS and ASAR images. The MERIS image covers approximately 1200 by 1200 km, while the ASAR Wide Swath mode image covers approximately 415 by 1200 km. Image background from CIMSS, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison.
Credits: ESA/Image background from CIMSS, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison. | | | | |
| | | | | This close up detail from the ASAR Wide Swath Mode image of the area of the sea surface associated with Hurricane Katrina's eye shows a darker, smoother sea surface, due to the lack of winds at the central extreme low pressure.
Credits: ESA | | | | |
| | | | Observing hurricanes
| Hurricane Katrina cloud-top pressure derived from MERIS, defined as the atmospheric pressure at the altitude of the top of the cloud, measured in hectopascals (hPa). The structure of the hurricane is clear, including a well-defined eye, eye wall and a spiral arm made up of dense thunderstorms. Courtesy of Prof. J. Fischer, Institute for Space Science, Free University of Berlin.
Credits: Courtesy of Prof. J. Fischer, Institute for Space Science, Free University of Berlin | | | | |
| | | | | Hurricane Katrina as seen by Envisat's MERIS in Reduced Resolution mode, off southern Florida on 25 August 2005, when it was still Category One on the Saffir-Simpson scale measuring hurricane intensity. The storm caused great damage after landfall, mostly due to heavy rainfall.
Credits: ESA | | | | |
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| | Related news Envisat monitoring China floods as part of Dragon ProgrammeTaking apart a hurricane: multi-sensor Envisat sees through FrancesERS-2 peers into Hurricane Isabel's heartThe power of two: Envisat demonstrates combined imagery from dual sensorsRelated missions EnvisatIn depth International Charter on Space and Major DisastersRelated links Institute for Space Science, Free University of Berlin
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