The RapidScat instrument aboard the International Space Station (ISS) measures surface winds. TRMM and GPM are joint missions between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.Īfter the GPM image was taken, Pam continued moving southward, tracking east of New Caledonia, and continued to weaken further.īy March 17, Pam had already moved past northern New Zealand and had become an extra-tropical cyclone. At that time, Pam's maximum sustained winds were still estimated at 135 knots (~155 mph) by JTWC, putting it near the top of the Saffir-Simpson category 4 scale. Typically the faster the winds, the more symmetrical the precipitation features around the storm's center. A well-defined, closed inner eyewall denoted by the annulus of intense rain rates up to 50 mm/2 inches per hour, is indicative of a well-formed intense cyclonic circulation. GPM showed that Pam was still a very powerful storm. local time) on Maand showed rain rates within Cyclone Pam observed from GPM's microwave (GMI, in the outer swath) and radar (DPR, inner swath) instruments. The image was taken at 03:51 UTC (2:51 p.m. NASA's GPM Core observatory satellite passed over Pam as the cyclone began pulling away from Vanuatu on the 14th. Although damage is still being assessed, the number of reported fatalities fortunately has been rather low at 11 considering the power of the storm. The storm caused immense, widespread damage with the islands of Erromango and Tanna suffering a direct hit. Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), making it a category 5 storm on the U.S. At the end of Pam's life on March 17, NASA's RapidScat provided a look at the winds of the waning storm.Īs the cyclone bore down on Vanuatu's central islands on the afternoon (local time) of March 13, 2015, Pam's maximum sustained winds were estimated to have increased to 270 kph (~167 mph) by the U.S. The Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core observatory provided data on rain rates throughout the storm. 18, 2015 - NASA-JAXA's GPM Satellite Close-up of Cyclone Pam's RainfallĪs one of the strongest cyclones every recorded in the South Pacific Ocean, Cyclone Pam devastated the island archipelago of Vanuatu. It is the sediment that scatters light, giving the water its brilliant color. Pam was a Category 5 hurricane that churned the warm ocean waters and brought sediment from the ocean floor to the surface. The cloud of blue is a sign of Tropical Cyclone Pam's passage. NASA Sees a Colorful Sea in Cyclone Pam's WakeĬarbonate sediments lofted by Tropical Cyclone Pam were spotted when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of the South Pacific Ocean on March 16 at 23:05 UTC (7:05 p.m.
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