06/02/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/02/2021 09:57
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Hurricane Florence is pictured from the International Space Station as a category 1 storm as it was making landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, Sept. 14, 2018.
Credits: NASA
June 1 marked the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which officially ends Nov. 30. After 2020 brought a record number of named storms in the North Atlantic basin, NASA is once again prepared to help understand and monitor these storms from the unique vantage point of space and is providing experts to discuss hurricanes and other extreme weather events.
Climate change is increasing the heat in the ocean basins and already making it more likely that storms will intensify faster and become stronger, a phenomenon NASA scientists continue to study.
Using data from its 20-plus earth-observing satellites, NASA plays a foundational role in the science of hurricanes. But when it comes to operational forecasting, the agency's main role is through its crucial partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NASA designs, builds, and launches NOAA's suite of satellites that provide the data that specifically feed numerical weather prediction models.
'NASA's cutting-edge science helps us answer questions that nobody else can, especially when it comes to understanding hurricanes and their impacts before, during, and after they make landfall,' said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. 'As climate change intensifies and makes natural hazards like hurricanes more damaging, NASA is more committed than ever to innovative Earth science research. Our next-generation Earth System Observatory will build on NASA's existing capabilities to provide an unprecedented understanding of the Earth from bedrock to atmosphere, so we are better prepared to protect our communities from hurricanes and other extreme weather events.'
NASA's goal for disaster preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery is bridging the gap between data and the people who need it. Before, during, and after a hurricane or storm makes landfall, NASA satellites are in prime position to identify impacts.
NASA works with local officials and first responders, federal agencies such as FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and infrastructure experts to determine what information they need and to supply it in usable formats in real time. Examples include information on infrastructure failures and disruptions, contaminated water supplies and other hotspots for urgent response needs.
NASA welcomes media inquiries about its role in studying and understanding hurricanes. The following NASA scientists, who represent a cross-section of expertise in hurricane science and application, are available for media interviews as scheduling allows:
To inquire about interview availability with one or more of these scientists, please contact Peter Jacobs at: [email protected].
For general NASA hurricane science reference material, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/nasa-and-hurricanes-five-fast-facts
and
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/news/index.html
The following are some of NASA's most popular public-domain, open-source imagery products:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4884
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4870
https://gpm.nasa.gov/data/imerg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZkwASBe2zo
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12772
All NASA-created content is in the public domain and free for media usage.
For other Earth science videos, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard
For all NASA scientific data visualizations and animations, visit:
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Last Updated: Jun 2, 2021
Editor: Sean Potter