NASA Now Able to Clock Winds From Space

Thanks to a nifty little instrument called a scatterometer, NASA researchers have captured their first space-based measurements of winds associated with two Pacific typhoons.

Because it works with radar, the scatterometer can see through even the gloomiest conditions to relay information that can help forecasters predict hurricanes and winter storms.

The first images from the instrument aboard Japan’s Advanced Earth Observing Satellite showed two typhoons in the northwest Pacific Ocean on Sept. 20, each with winds of about 60 mph.

Days later, Typhoon Violet rammed into Tokyo and eastern Japan, killing at least seven people and causing hundreds of landslides and extensive flooding before being downgraded to a tropical storm. Typhoon Tom was observed in the open ocean east of Japan.

“We are very pleased with the quality of these two images,” said Jim Graf, NASA scatterometer project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. The project will provide regular measurements of ocean surface wind speeds from space, which will enhance the ability of weather forecasters to predict the behavior of storms like Typhoon Violet.

The scatterometer takes its name from the way it measures wind by analyzing the way ripples on ocean waves scatter radar signals.

It collects 190,000 wind measurements each day. It maps more than 90% of the world’s ice-free oceans every two days, and should give scientists 100 times more information on ocean winds than they currently obtain from ship reports.

The measurements are being used by the National Weather Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Japanese Meteorological Agency.