Tropical Cyclone Robyn
photo by NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr
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- Uploaded:
- Jul 06, 2010
- Original:
- 6400 × 8400
- Original date:
- Apr 06, 2010
Tropical Cyclone Robyn spanned hundreds of kilometers over the Southern Indian Ocean in early April 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on April 5, 2010. Although the storm lacks a distinct eye, it has a discernible center. Opaque white clouds cluster at the center of the storm while thinner spiral arms project outward.
On April 5, 2010, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported that Tropical Cyclone Robyn had maximum sustained winds of 60 knots (110 kilometers per hour) and gusts up to 75 knots (140 kilometers per hour). The storm was located roughly 370 nautical miles (690 kilometers) southwest of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The storm was expected to continue on its southeastward path for another day before turning to the west-southwest and eventually dissipating.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.
Instrument: Aqua - MODIS
To learn more about this image go to: earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=43412
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.
Wikipedia Article
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a low-pressure center surrounded by a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor contained in the moist air. They are fueled by a different heat mechanism than other cyclonic windstorms such as nor'easters, European windstorms, and polar lows. The characteristic that separates tropical cyclones from other cyclonic systems is that at any height in the atmosphere, the center of a tropical cyclone will be warmer than its surroundings; a phenomenon called "warm core" storm systems.
The term "tropical" refers both to the geographical origin of these systems, which usually form in tropical regions of the globe, and to their formation in maritime tropical air masses. The term "cyclone" refers to such storms' cyclonic nature, with counterclockwise wind flow in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise wind flow in the Southern Hemisphere. The opposite direction of the wind flow is a result of the Coriolis force. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane (/ˈhʌrɨkeɪn/, /ˈhʌrɨkən/), typhoon (/taɪ'fuːn/), tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone.
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