Visualizations by
Alex Kekesi
Released on April 21, 2022
This visualization shows the hurricanes and tropical storms of 2021 as seen by NASA’s Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) - a data product combining precipitation observations from infrared and microwave satellite sensors united by the GPM Core Observatory. IMERG provides near real-time half-hourly precipitation estimates at ~10km resolution for the entire globe, helping researchers better understand Earth’s water cycle and extreme weather events, with applications for disaster management, tracking disease, resource management, energy production and food security. IMERG rain rates (in mm/hr) are laid under infrared cloud data from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC) Cloud Composite dataset together with storm tracks from the NOAA National Hurricane Center (NHC) Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting (ATCF) model. Sea surface temperatures (SST) are also shown over the oceans, derived from the NASA Multi-sensor Ultra-high Resolution (MUR) dataset, which combines data from multiple geostationary and orbiting satellites. Sea surface temperatures play an important role in hurricane formation and development, with warmer temperatures linked to more intense storms.
Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Data Visualizer Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Data Visualizer Horace Mitchell (NASA/GSFC): Lead Data Provider Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Please give credit for this item to: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
Additional credits:
Storm tracks and strengths courtesy of NOAA's National Weather Service.
Blue Marble MODIS data composite courtesy of the MODIS Science Team NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the NASA Earth Observatory.
Music created and produced by UniqueTracks. Fantasy (theme from Norma) - Vincenzo Bellini.
Short URL to share this page: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4982
Data Used:
CPC (Climate Prediction Center) Cloud Composite
Data Compilation - Climate Prediction Center (CPC) - 5/1/2021 - 11/30/2021
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation:
Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0