(Press-News.org) An area of low pressure moving toward Cyclone Imelda from the west has turned the storm to the south from its westward track, as NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured a visible and an infrared image of the powerful storm that showed the effects of wind shear.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Imelda on April 11 at 0925 UTC (5:25 a.m. EDT). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard Aqua captured a visible image that showed a well-developed Tropical Cyclone Imelda in the Southern Indian Ocean that has now turned to the south. The MODIS image shows tightly-curved, powerful bands of thunderstorms stretching from the north to the east and south of the center of circulation, all wrapping into the center. MODIS imagery was created by the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
At the same time, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies with MODIS aboard Aqua, captured an infrared image of Imelda. The image showed that the strongest convection and thunderstorms had been pushed east of center from wind shear. Those powerful thunderstorms had cloud top temperatures colder than -63 Fahrenheit (-52 Celsius), and were dropping heavy rainfall. The AIRS image was created at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Microwave satellite imagery indicated that the strongest convection and most powerful thunderstorms are occurring in the storm's eastern quadrants as a result of an increase in wind shear. Powerful thunderstorms are also occurring over the center of circulation.
On April 11 at 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT), Cyclone Imelda had maximum sustained winds near 75 knots (80.5 mph/129.6 kph). Imelda is located near 13.1 south latitude and 57.9 east longitude, about 515 nautical miles (593 miles/954 km) north-northeast of La Reunion. Since interacting with the approaching area of low pressure from the west and then turning south, Imelda has slowed down, and is moving at just 2 knots (2.3 mph/3.7 kph).
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasters expect Imelda to continue tracking generally southward over the next two days and then shift to the southeast as it starts moving around the edge of a ridge of high pressure.
The sea surface temperatures in the vicinity are still quite warm, between 28 and 29 Celsius (82.4 and 84.2 Fahrenheit) which forecasters believe may help Imelda strengthen a little more over the next two days. After that time, wind shear is expected to increase and quickly weaken the storm.
INFORMATION:
Text Credit: Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Cyclone Imelda turned the corner on NASA satellite imagery
2013-04-12
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New research reveals how human ancestor walked, chewed, and moved
2013-04-12
A team of scientists has pieced together how the hominid Australopithecus sediba (Au. sediba) walked, chewed, and moved nearly two million years ago. Their research, which appears in six papers in the latest issue of the journal Science, also shows that Au. sediba had a notable feature that differed from that of modern humans—a functionally longer and more flexible lower back.
Together, the studies offer a comprehensive depiction of some of the most complete early human ancestral remains ever discovered.
Since its discovery in August 2008, the site of Malapa—located ...
Molecular techniques are man's new best friend in pet obesity research
2013-04-12
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — According to the World Health Organization, more than two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. And it's not just humans who are packing on the pounds. Our furry companions are plagued by an obesity epidemic of their own. More than 50 percent of the dogs and cats in the United States are overweight or obese.
In a new paper on pet obesity in the Journal of Animal Science, University of Illinois professor of animal and nutritional sciences Kelly Swanson and his colleagues describe how nutrients and biological compounds in foods can affect gene expression ...
How Alzheimer's could occur
2013-04-12
A new hypothesis has been developed by researchers in Bochum on how Alzheimer's disease could occur. They analysed the interaction of the proteins FE65 and BLM that regulate cell division. In the cell culture model, they discovered spherical structures in the nucleus that contained FE65 and BLM. The interaction of the proteins triggered a wrong signal for cell division. This may explain the degeneration and death of nerve cells in Alzheimer's patients. The team led by Dr. Thorsten Müller and Prof. Dr. Katrin Marcus from the Department of Functional Proteomics in cooperation ...
NASA sees sun emit an M6.5 flare
2013-04-12
The M6.5 flare on the morning of April 11, 2013, was also associated with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME), another solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space and can reach Earth one to three days later. CMEs can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. Experimental NASA research models show that the CME began at 3:36 a.m. EDT on April 11, leaving the sun at over 600 miles per second.
Earth-directed CMEs can cause a space weather phenomenon called a geomagnetic storm, which occurs when they connect with ...
NASA satellite image sees Cyclone Victoria looking like a 'J' from space
2013-04-12
When NASA's Aqua satellite flew over Cyclone Victoria in the Southern Indian Ocean it captured a visible image of the storm and it appeared to look like the letter "J." A band of thunderstorms wrapping into the center from the east of low-level center of circulation extended north, creating the appearance of the letter.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Victoria on April 11 at 0320 UTC (April 10 at 11:20 p.m. EDT). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard Aqua captured the visible image that showed strong thunderstorms ...
Why we buy music
2013-04-12
A new study reveals what happens in our brain when we decide to purchase a piece of music when we hear it for the first time. The study, conducted at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – The Neuro, McGill University and published in the journal Science on April 12, pinpoints the specific brain activity that makes new music rewarding and predicts the decision to purchase music.
Participants in the study listened to 60 previously unheard music excerpts while undergoing functional resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, providing bids of how much they were willing ...
Ice cloud heralds fall at Titan's south pole
2013-04-12
An ice cloud taking shape over Titan's south pole is the latest sign that the change of seasons is setting off a cascade of radical changes in the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon. Made from an unknown ice, this type of cloud has long hung over Titan's north pole, where it is now fading, according to observations made by the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) on NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
"We associate this particular kind of ice cloud with winter weather on Titan, and this is the first time we have detected it anywhere but the north pole," said the study's lead ...
UCLA study suggests potential therapy for HIV
2013-04-12
UCLA scientists have shown that temporarily blocking a protein critical to immune response actually helps the body clear itself of chronic infection. Published in the April 12 edition of Science, the finding suggests new approaches to treating persistent viral infections like HIV and hepatitis C.
The research team studied type-1 interferons (IFN-1), proteins released by cells in response to disease-causing organisms that enable cells to talk to each other and orchestrate an immune response against infection. Constant IFN-1 signaling is also a trademark of chronic viral ...
ACP and FSMB encourage doctors to 'pause before posting' and not 'friend' patients in policy paper
2013-04-12
April 11, 2013 -- The creation and use of information online and the widespread use of the Internet offer exciting new opportunities for patient care, but also require physicians to consider how to best protect patient interests and apply principles of professionalism to online settings, the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) said today in a newly released policy paper, "Online Medical Professionalism: Patient and Public Relationships."
"Digital communications and social media use continue to increase in popularity among ...
New research helps place modern temperatures into a more complete statistical framework
2013-04-12
Harvard researchers are adding statistical nuance to our understanding of how modern and historical temperatures compare.
Through developing a statistical model of Arctic temperature and how it relates to instrumental and proxy records derived from trees, ice cores, and lake sediments, Martin Tingley, a research associate in Harvard's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Peter Huybers, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, have shown that the warmest summers in the last two decades are unprecedented in the previous six centuries. Their work is described ...