NASA's Aqua Satellite sees tropical potential in system 94P

Storm between Australia, Papau New Guinea

2011-01-15

(Press-News.org) The last thing that Queensland, Australia needs is more rainfall after the record-breaking flooding that has been occurring there in the last two months. Now, NASA's Aqua satellite has noticed a low pressure area with signs of tropical development in the Coral Sea ( part of the South Pacific Ocean Basin), between Papua New Guinea and Australia's East Coast.

When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over System 94P on January 13, 2011 at 0353 UTC, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured an infrared image of the low's cloud temperatures. The AIRS cloud temperatures revealed some strong convection in the center of System 94P where cloud tops were as cold as or colder than -63 Fahrenheit (-53 Celsius) in strong thunderstorms and areas where heavy rain was likely falling. At that time, however, heavy rainfall was limited to areas over open ocean.

At 1000 UTC on Jan. 13, System 94P was located about 285 miles northeast of Cairns, Australia near 14.0 South and 149.7 East. Maximum sustained winds are reported around 33 mph (55 km/hr), just near tropical depression status. The low is still not a tropical depression, but forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center give it a good chance to become one. Minimum central pressure is estimated near 1001 millibars.

The JTWC noted that "Animated multispectral imagery Indicated that rapid consolidation and intensification of the low level circulation center over the past 12 hours (to 2200 UTC on Jan. 12). System 94P is also in an area of low wind shear and sea surface temperatures warmer than the 80F threshold needed to help a tropical cyclone develop.

Currently the JWTC is projecting that System 94P will track to the northeast away from eastern Australia over the next couple of days and toward Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Forecasters will keep watching to see if System 94P becomes a tropical depression in the next day or two.

INFORMATION:

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

NASA satellites dissect Tropical Storm Vania's clouds and rainfall

2011-01-15

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Aqua satellites are providing valuable information to forecasters about Tropical Storm Vania's clouds and rainfall as the system continues to impact Vanuatu and New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Using precipitation radar, infrared and visible technology, the two NASA satellites provided rainfall rates, cloud heights and temperatures. The TRMM satellite had a very good daytime look at tropical cyclone Vania in the South Pacific Ocean near Vanuatu on January 12, 2011 at 0435 UTC (11:35 p.m. EST Jan. 11). Top wind ...

Putting the dead to work

2011-01-15

Conservation paleobiologists--scientists who use the fossil record to understand the evolutionary and ecological responses of present-day species to changes in their environment--are putting the dead to work. A new review of the research in this emerging field provides examples of how the fossil record can help assess environmental impacts, predict which species will be most vulnerable to environmental changes, and provide guidelines for restoration. The literature review by conservation paleobiologists Gregory Dietl of the Paleontological Research Institution and Cornell ...

Stanford researcher uses living cells to create 'biotic' video games

2011-01-15

VIDEO: Stanford physicist Ingmar Riedel-Kruse has begun developing "biotic games " involving paramecia and other living organisms. He hopes the games lead to advances in education and crowd-sourcing of laboratory research while... Click here for more information. Video game designers are always striving to make games more lifelike, but they'll have a hard time topping what Stanford researcher Ingmar Riedel-Kruse is up to. He's introducing life itself into games. Riedel-Kruse ...

Study provides molecular rationale for combining targeted agents to treat breast cancer

2011-01-15

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study by Ohio State University cancer researchers provides a rational for treating breast cancer by combining two kinds of targeted agents, one that inhibits an overactive, cancer-causing pathway in cancer cells and one that reverses changes that silence genes that normally prevent cancer. Both types of agents are currently available and being evaluated individually in clinical trials, the researchers note. The findings, published online in the journal Cancer Research, show that abnormal activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway leads to the ...

Earth's hot past: Prologue to future climate?

2011-01-15

The magnitude of climate change during Earth's deep past suggests that future temperatures may eventually rise far more than projected if society continues its pace of emitting greenhouse gases, a new analysis concludes. The study, by National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) scientist Jeffrey Kiehl, will appear as a "Perspectives" article in this week's issue of the journal Science. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), NCAR's sponsor. Building on recent research, the study examines the relationship between global temperatures and high ...

More intensive methods needed to identify TB in HIV-prone populations

2011-01-15

Identifying tuberculosis patients in Africa using passive methods is leaving many cases undiagnosed, according to researchers from the Netherlands, Kenya and the United States, who studied case detection methods in HIV-prone western Kenya. Tuberculosis (TB) occurs commonly in men and women with HIV, but in these patients TB can be more difficult to detect. The findings were published online ahead of the print edition of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. "Limited information exists on the prevalence of tuberculosis ...

Mandatory menu labeling didn't change behavior at 1 fast food chain

2011-01-15

DURHAM, NC and KING COUNTY, WA – An effort in King County, Washington, to add nutrition facts labeling to fast food menus had no effect on consumer behavior in its first year. As part of a comprehensive effort to stem the rise in obesity, the county, which includes Seattle and environs, imposed a mandatory menu labeling regulation on all restaurant chains with 15 or more locations beginning in January, 2009. Restaurants had to disclose calorie information at the point of purchase. Researchers from Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS) Graduate Medical School ...

Speeding up E. coli detection

2011-01-15

A simple, automated method of tracking E. coli uses a laser to detect and monitor the microbe in potentially contaminated bodies of water or waterways. The technique described this month in the International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design could reduce the incidence of waterborne disease outbreaks. Microbial contamination of water is a worldwide environmental and health problem. Water related diseases are the leading causes of illness and death in the world. The impacts of water quality on public health and economy are highly significant as evidenced ...

Warming climate means red deer rutting season arrives early

2011-01-15

Wild red deer on the Isle of Rum, which were featured in the BBC TV series Autumnwatch, are rutting earlier in the year, a study shows. Scientists believe the annual rutting season on the Isle of Rum could be changing because of warming spring and summer temperatures. The study shows that the rutting and calving seasons are now up to two weeks earlier on average compared with 30 years ago. The research was based on a 38-year study of the ecology of red deer on the Isle of Rum and used annual records of breeding success in more than 3,000 individually recognisable ...

Heavy metals and pesticides threaten a Huelva wetland

2011-01-15

The Estero de Domingo Rubio wetland, located near the Marismas del Odiel Natural Area in the Huelva estuary, is regionally, nationally and internationally protected thanks to its ecological value. However, its tributary rivers and the Ría de Huelva estuary pump manmade pollutants into it, which could affect its water quality and ecosystem. Industrial activity, accumulations of dangerous waste, the expansion of farming, and excessive extraction of sand and gravel for the construction industry are the leading threats to the Estero de Domingo Rubio wetland, the tidal system ...

Modular assembly of chiral nitrogen-bridged rings achieved by palladium-catalyzed diastereoselective and enantioselective cascade cyclization reactions

Sally C. Morton, executive vice president of ASU Knowledge Enterprise, presents a bold and practical framework for moving research from discovery to real-world impact

Biochemical parameters in patients with diabetic nephropathy versus individuals with diabetes alone, non-diabetic nephropathy, and healthy controls

[Press-News.org] NASA's Aqua Satellite sees tropical potential in system 94P
Storm between Australia, Papau New Guinea

NASA's Aqua Satellite sees tropical potential in system 94P

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: