GPM Observes Hurricane Florence From Space

NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over Tropical Storm Florence on September 7, 2018.
At that time, the storm was experiencing strong wind shear. The storm later restrengthened into a hurricane.

The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions.

GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Data provided by the joint NASA/JAXA GPM mission.

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Greg Shirah