New Faraway Sensors Warn of Emerging Hurricane's Strength
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On Sept. 22, 2005, Hurricane Rita threatened the U.S. Gulf Coast. NASA's TRMM satellite helped create this three-dimensional view of the storm; storm clouds shown here in white. Credit: NASA
Days before a growing hurricane possibly batters a local coastline, meteorologists rush to predict just how strong its winds and rains may grow knowing that lives and an area’s economy may depend on their results. A new study supported by NASA and the U.S. Office of Naval Research takes forecasters one step further to improving their ability to predict just how powerful an oncoming storm may become by using highly-sensitive sensors located thousands of miles from the storm to detect lightning outbreaks within a hurricane’s most dangerous area.
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