Image: TRMM Kyle 2002

Description: This Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite image of Tropical Storm Kyle was captured on October 3, while the storm was still far from land. The swath of the orbiter can be seen across the swirl of Kyle's cloud tops, where the different colors reveal rain intensity and structure. In this image blue indicates light rain and red indicates heavy rain. While rainfall in the eastern rain band appears impressive, TRMM unveils why Kyle ultimately failed to strengthen--poor organization of rain around the eye. The rain bands do not form a completely circular eyewall, and only light, sporadic rains are found in the northwestern quadrant. Since hurricanes derive their energy from condensation of water vapor into rain, the lack of organized rains all the way around the inner core of Kyle suggest that this storm's "heat engine" was not operating at peak capacity. While TRMM occasionally captures spectacular images of intense rain clouds within the interior of powerful Atlantic hurricanes, it is also important to study marginal storms such as Kyle to determine why some tropical disturbances thrive while others fail. Ultimately this knowledge will lead to better predictions of which tropical cyclones pose the greatest U.S. threat.
Title: TRMM Kyle 2002
Credit: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=5180
Author: Hal Pierce and Jeff Halverson
Permission: This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) Warnings: Use of NASA logos, insignia and emblems is restricted per U.S. law 14 CFR 1221. The NASA website hosts a large number of images from the Soviet/Russian space agency, and other non-American space agencies. These are not necessarily in the public domain. Materials based on Hubble Space Telescope data may be copyrighted if they are not explicitly produced by the STScI.[1] See also and Template:Cc-Hubble. The SOHO (ESA & NASA) joint project implies that all materials created by its probe are copyrighted and require permission for commercial non-educational use. [2] Images featured on the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) web site may be copyrighted. [3] The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) site has been known to host copyrighted content even though its photo gallery FAQ states that all of the images in the photo gallery are in the public domain.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No