After a request from the National Weather Service Pacific Region, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data are available over/around Guam. These data are available at this NOAA/NESDIS website, and also via anonymous ftp from ftp.star.nesdis.noaa.gov. There will be 10 overpasses between 1 and 24 November. The first RADARSAT overpass occurred at 0839 UTC on... Read More
Polar-orbiting satellites have microwave detectors that give important information about the low-level structure of an evolving tropical cyclone. If high clouds are omnipresent, it can be difficult for an analyst to diagnose storm strength with accuracy. Microwave energy penetrates clouds, however, and low-earth orbit (LEO) observations of microwave frequencies can... Read More
NOAA/NESDIS STAR is producing occasional SAR imagery over Hurricane Fiona (link). NetCDF files can be imported into AWIPS and displayed, as shown above (color-enhanced with Beaufort Scaling), in an image from late on 19 September when Fiona was just north of Hispaniola. The strongest winds were associated with the northern... Read More
GOES-17 visible and infrared imagery shows Tropical Storm Estelle over the eastern Pacific to the west-southwest of Baja California. Although there are regions of strong convection, satellite presentation of the storm suggests a modest tropical storm. Center-fixing a storm such as this (with just one image vs. an animation!) is... Read More
