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Hurricane Ike: GOES-11 Super Rapid Scan images

The GOES-11 (GOES-West) satellite was placed into Super Rapid Scan Operations (SRSO) mode on 10 September 2008, allowing imagery at 1-minute intervals to monitor Hurricane Ike in the Gulf of Mexico. Using the visible channel imagery (above; Read More

GOES-11 SRSO visible images

GOES-11 SRSO visible images

The GOES-11 (GOES-West) satellite was placed into Super Rapid Scan Operations (SRSO) mode on 10 September 2008, allowing imagery at 1-minute intervals to monitor Hurricane Ike in the Gulf of Mexico. Using the visible channel imagery (above; QuickTime animation), the large satellite viewing angle from GOES-West positioned over the Pacific Ocean (the satellite zenith angle is approximately 66 degrees for features over the Gulf of Mexico) allowed for an interesting “oblique view” of convective bursts developing around the core of Hurricane Ike.

GOES-11 10.7 µm IR imagery (below; QuickTime animation) revealed a band of very cold cloud top temperatures — colder than -80º C (purple colors) — in the northeastern quadrant of Hurricane Ike early in the day. The minimum cloud top brightness temperature value of -83º C was seen at 12:49 and 13:19 UTC. During the course of the day, Hurricane Ike re-intensified into a Category 2 storm as it moved over a high Ocean Heat Content area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

GOES-11 SRSO IR images

GOES-11 SRSO IR images

A plot of NOAA aircraft reconnaissance data from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (below) showed that Ike was a rather large hurricane, with tropical storm force winds extending  a significant distance away from the eye. TRMM/TMI (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Microwave Imager) data indicated that Ike possessed a double eyewall structure, with a small inner eye within a very large outer eyewall.

GOES-12 IR image + NOAA aircraft reconnaissance data

GOES-12 IR image + NOAA aircraft reconnaissance data

A sequence of AWIPS images of the 1-km resolution MODIS 11.0 µm IR channel data (below) showed that Hurricane Ike remained very well organized even after its encounter with the island of Cuba.

AWIPS images of the MODIS 11.0 µm IR channel

AWIPS images of the MODIS 11.0 µm IR channel

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CIMSS Environmental Steering product

Jason Dunion (formerly at CIMSS, now at the NOAA/AOML Hurricane Research Division) penned an excellent summary of the utility of the CIMSS Environmental Steering (or Deep Layer Mean Wind) product that is available on the Read More

CIMSS Envrionmental Steering product

CIMSS Envrionmental Steering product

Jason Dunion (formerly at CIMSS, now at the NOAA/AOML Hurricane Research Division) penned an excellent summary of the utility of the CIMSS Environmental Steering (or Deep Layer Mean Wind) product that is available on the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site. Satellite-derived Atmospheric Motion Vectors produced at CIMSS are in important inputs to these environmental steering flow products. With Hurricane Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna, Hurricane Ike, and Tropical Storm Josephine all in the Atlantic basin, Jason noted the following interactions between the steering flow patterns and the motion of those 4 tropical cyclones during the first few days of September 2008:

03 September:
Gustav has made landfall and helps build ridge #1 to its east
– big ridge #2 is located north-northeast of Ike

04 September:
– gigantic low over Canadian Maritimes lifts out;
– ridge #1 slides to the east, ridge #2 slides to the west

Late 04 September to early 05 September:
– ridge #1 & ridge #2 link to form a sprawling ridge to the north of Ike
Ike is stuck in northwesterly steering flow until that “ridge linking”, and then starts a turn to the west

05 September:
– ridge #1 and ridge #2 consolidates and parks to the north-northwest of Ike; Ike then quickly comes into a southwesterly steering flow
Hanna is forced “up the alley” between ridge #1/#2 and a trough approaching from the west
Josephine is pushed to the northwest by the deep flow (shallow Deep Layer Mean is more of a west-southwesterly flow); Josephine then deteriorates as southwesterly  wind shear increases

The corresponding 3-hourly images of the AWIPS Northern Hemisphere water vapor channel composite are shown below, covering the period 01-05 September 2008.

AWIPS Northern Hemisphere water vapor composite images

AWIPS Northern Hemisphere water vapor composite images

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Tropical Storm Hanna

Rapid Scan Operations (RSO) images of the GOES-13 10.7 µm IR channel (above) showed some interesting evolution of Tropical Storm Hanna on 05 September 2008. Strong bursts of convection were seen to develop near the center of Hanna, with periods of cloud top temperatures colder than -80º C (purple colors).A... Read More

GOES-13 10.7 µm IR images

GOES-13 10.7 µm IR images

Rapid Scan Operations (RSO) images of the GOES-13 10.7 µm IR channel (above) showed some interesting evolution of Tropical Storm Hanna on 05 September 2008. Strong bursts of convection were seen to develop near the center of Hanna, with periods of cloud top temperatures colder than -80º C (purple colors).

A comparison of AWIPS images of the 1-km resolution MODIS 11.0 µm IR and the 4-km resolution GOES-12 10.7 µm IR channel data (below) indicated that the coldest cloud top temperatures were -89º C with MODIS and -78º C with GOES.

MODIS 11.0 µm IR + GOES-12 10.7 µm IR images

AWIPS images of the MODIS 11.0 µm IR + GOES-12 10.7 µm IR chanels

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Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike intensified into a  Category 4 storm late in the day on 03 September 2008. A comparison of GOES-12 10.7 µm IR and SSM/IS 85 GHz microwave images from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (above) showed a... Read More

GOES-12 IR image + SSM/IS microwave image

Hurricane Ike intensified into a  Category 4 storm late in the day on 03 September 2008. A comparison of GOES-12 10.7 µm IR and SSM/IS 85 GHz microwave images from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (above) showed a well-defined eye structure around 09:15 UTC on 04 September. A period of rapid intensification was seen on the CIMSS Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT) intensity estimate plot (below), which was noted in the National Hurricane Center discussion:

HURRICANE IKE DISCUSSION NUMBER  12
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL   AL092008
1100 PM EDT WED SEP 03 2008

IKE HAS RAPIDLY INTENSIFIED THIS EVENING.  AN EYE BECAME APPARENT IN CONVENTIONAL SATELLITE IMAGERY SHORTLY AFTER 2100 UTC.  SINCE THAT TIME THE EYE HAS BECOME MORE DISTINCT WITH A RING OF VERY COLD CLOUDS TOPS SURROUNDING IT.  THE LATEST DVORAK DATA T-NUMBERS WERE T6.0 AND RAW ADT ESTIMATES FROM UW-CIMSS HAVE AVERAGED T6.2 SINCE 2045 UTC.  BASED ON THESE ESTIMATES THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS SET AT 115 KT…MAKING IKE A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE.

CIMSS Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT) intensity plot

CIMSS Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT) intensity plot

GOES-12 10.7 µm IR and GOES-12 visible images (below) showed that while Hurricane Ike maintained a well-defined eye during the morning hours on 04 September, the appearance of the eye did degrade somewhat as the day went on — and the intensity of Ike was reduced from 120 knots to 115 knots.

GOES-12 10.7 µm IR images

GOES-12 10.7 µm IR images

GOES-12 visible images

GOES-12 visible images

The deep layer wind shear product (below) indicated that Ike was moving into an environment of increasing  northerly shear, which may have contributed to the slight decrease in intensity noted during the day.

GOES-12 IR image + deep layer wind shear product

GOES-12 IR image + deep layer wind shear product

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