(Press-News.org) Infrared data gathered on the tropical low pressure area known as System 92L gave forecasters a hint that the low would become the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season's second tropical depression.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over System 92L on July 21 at 11:53 a.m. EDT and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument gathered infrared data on the developing low pressure area. The infrared data shows temperature, and AIRS data showed some areas of very cold cloud top temperatures, exceeding the threshold of -63F/-52C that indicates cloud tops near the top of the troposphere. Those cloud top temperatures are also indicative of strong uplift (of air) and powerful thunderstorms. Soon after the AIRS data was taken the low that became Tropical Depression 2.
At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on July 222, the center of Tropical Depression Two (TD2) was located near latitude 12.6 north and longitude 48.0 west, about 910 miles (1,465 km) east of the Lesser Antilles. Tropical Depression Two had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph (55 kph) but the National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects little change in strength over the next 24 hours. The depression is moving toward the west near 17 mph (28 kph) and that general motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1012 millibars.
The NHC noted that Tropical Depression 2 will be moving through an environment of dry air and increasing vertical wind shear that will not favor strengthening. In fact, NHC forecasters expect that TD2 may weaken to a remnant low by Wednesday, July 23, and degenerate into a trough (elongated area) of low pressure on Thursday.
INFORMATION:
Text credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA's Aqua satellite gets infrared hint on Tropical Depression 2
2014-07-22
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
NIST shows ultrasonically propelled nanorods spin dizzyingly fast
2014-07-22
Vibrate a solution of rod-shaped metal nanoparticles in water with ultrasound and they'll spin around their long axes like tiny drill bits. Why? No one yet knows exactly. But researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have clocked their speed—and it's fast. At up to 150,000 revolutions per minute, these nanomotors rotate 10 times faster than any nanoscale object submerged in liquid ever reported.
The discovery of this dizzying rate has opened up the possibility that they could be used not only for moving around inside the body—the impetus ...
Hubble traces the halo of a galaxy more accurately than ever before
2014-07-22
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have probed the extreme outskirts of the stunning elliptical galaxy Centaurus A. The galaxy's halo of stars has been found to extend much further from the galaxy's centre than expected and the stars within this halo seem to be surprisingly rich in heavy elements. This is the most remote portion of an elliptical galaxy ever to have been explored.
There is more to a galaxy than first meets the eye. Extending far beyond the bright glow of a galaxy's centre, the swirling spiral arms, or the elliptical fuzz, is an extra ...
Room for improvement in elementary school children's lunches and snacks from home
2014-07-22
BOSTON -- Open a child's lunch box and you're likely to find that the lunches and snacks inside fall short of federal guidelines. Those are the findings of a study conducted by researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. The findings are published online ahead of print in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Led by senior author Jeanne Goldberg, Ph.D., R.D., a professor at the Friedman School, the study is ...
Meerkats' sinister side is secret to their success, study shows
2014-07-22
The darker side of meerkats – which sees them prevent their daughters from breeding, and kill their grandchildren – is explained in a new study.
Research into the desert creatures – which live in groups with a dominant breeding pair and many adult helpers – shows that the alpha female can flourish when it maintains the sole right to breed.
The study shows how this way of life, also found in many animals such as ants and bees, can prove effective despite its sinister side.
Dominant meerkats control breeding within their group through violence, by banishing any other ...
NUS scientists use low cost technique to improve properties and functions of nanomaterials
2014-07-22
The challenges faced by researchers in modifying properties of nanomaterials for application in devices may be addressed by a simple technique, thanks to recent innovative studies conducted by scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Through the use of a simple, efficient and low cost technique involving a focused laser beam, two NUS research teams, led by Professor Sow Chorng Haur from the Department of Physics at the NUS Faculty of Science, demonstrated that the properties of two different types of materials can be controlled and modified, and consequently, ...
Children's impulsive behaviour is related to their brain connectivity
2014-07-22
Researchers from the University of Murcia have studied the changes in the brain that are associated with impulsiveness, a personality trait that causes difficulties in inhibiting a response in the face of a stimulus and leads to unplanned actions without considering the negative consequences. These patterns can serve as an indicator for predicting the risk of behavioural problems.
A new study headed by researchers from the University of Murcia analyses whether the connectivity of an infant's brain is related to children's impulsiveness.
"Impulsiveness is a risk factor ...
Rigid connections: Molecular basis of age-related memory loss explained
2014-07-22
From telephone numbers to foreign vocabulary, our brains hold a seemingly endless supply of information. However, as we are getting older, our ability to learn and remember new things declines. A team of scientists around Associate Prof Dr Antonio Del Sol Mesa from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine of the University of Luxembourg and Dr Ronald van Kesteren of the VU University Amsterdam have identified the molecular mechanisms of this cognitive decline using latest high-throughput proteomics and statistical methods. The results were published this week in the ...
New water balance calculation for the Dead Sea
2014-07-22
This news release is available in French.
Tel Aviv/Halle, Saale. The drinking water resources on the eastern, Jordanian side of the Dead Sea could decline severe as a result of climate change than those on the western, Israeli and Palestinian side. This is the conclusion reached by an international team of researchers that calculated the water flows around the Dead Sea. The natural replenishment rate of groundwater will reduce dramatically in the future if precipitation lowers as predicted, say the scientists, writing in the journal Science of the Total Environment. ...
Novel methods may help stem cells survive transplantation into damaged tissues
2014-07-22
New Rochelle, NY -- Stem cells offer much promise for treating damaged organs and tissues, but with current transplantation approaches stem cell survival is poor, limiting their effectiveness. New methods are being developed and tested to improve the survival and optimize their therapeutic function after transplantation, as described in a Review article in BioResearch Open Access, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the BioResearch Open Access website.
In the article 'Preconditioning Stem Cells for In Vivo ...
Study compares cost-effectiveness of weight-loss programs and drugs
2014-07-22
DURHAM, N.C. – In a cost-effectiveness analysis of commercial diet programs and pills, the Weight Watchers program and the drug Qsymia showed the best value for the money. The Jenny Craig regimen generated the greatest weight loss, but was also the most expensive option tested, according to researchers at Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS) Graduate Medical School.
The findings, published in the June issue of the journal Obesity, provide important information on the health and weight-loss benefits per dollar spent as insurance carriers consider coverage for weight ...