Forum for Science, Industry and Business

NASA's TRMM Satellite Measured Washi's Deadly Rainfall

Washi, known locally in the Philippines as Sendong, began as a tropical depression on December 13, 2011 in the West Pacific Ocean about 2150 km (~1333 miles) due east of the southern Philippines. Washi only intensified slightly and never exceeded tropical storm intensity as it tracked due west towards the southern Philippines' island of Mindanao.

Washi made landfall on the east coast of Mindanao on the afternoon of Dec. 16 as a moderate tropical storm with sustained winds reported at 55 knots (~63 mph). Despite its modest intensity, Washi had a huge impact on the island. As Washi made its way across Mindanao, it dumped heavy rains over parts of the island, which in turn triggered flash floods and mudslides. These turned out to be catastrophic as over 900 people were killed with hundreds more reported missing when entire villages where swept away.

Rainfall estimates from the TRMM-based, near-real time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. were compiled for the period of Dec. 13 to 20, 2011 for the southern Philippines. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.

Rainfall totals are on the order of 200 to over 250 mm (~8 to 10 inches) along Mindanao's east coast where Washi made landfall, but the highest amounts are along the northwest coast, where totals are on the order of 300 to over 400 mm (~12 to over 16 inches). To put the rainfall in perspective, 16 inches is the equivalent of about four months of rainfall in Washington, D.C.

In the southern Philippines places like Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City suffered the most devastating mudslides. In addition to deforestation and weak construction, poor warnings are being blamed for the deadliest cyclone disaster to hit the Philippines in three years. The residents of the southern Philippines see far fewer cyclones per year than in the north, and most of the heavy rain was reported to have fallen over the mountains before flowing down in raging rivers.

Rob Gutro | EurekAlert!
Further information:
http://www.nasa.gov
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2011/h2011_Washi.html

Im Focus: Spider silk key to new bone-fixing composite

University of Connecticut researchers have created a biodegradable composite made of silk fibers that can be used to repair broken load-bearing bones without the complications sometimes presented by other materials.

Repairing major load-bearing bones such as those in the leg can be a long and uncomfortable process.

Im Focus: Writing and deleting magnets with lasers

Study published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces is the outcome of an international effort that included teams from Dresden and Berlin in Germany, and the US.

Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) together with colleagues from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the University of Virginia...

Im Focus: Gamma-ray flashes from plasma filaments

Novel highly efficient and brilliant gamma-ray source: Based on model calculations, physicists of the Max PIanck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg propose a novel method for an efficient high-brilliance gamma-ray source. A giant collimated gamma-ray pulse is generated from the interaction of a dense ultra-relativistic electron beam with a thin solid conductor. Energetic gamma-rays are copiously produced as the electron beam splits into filaments while propagating across the conductor. The resulting gamma-ray energy and flux enable novel experiments in nuclear and fundamental physics.

The typical wavelength of light interacting with an object of the microcosm scales with the size of this object. For atoms, this ranges from visible light to...

Im Focus: Basel researchers succeed in cultivating cartilage from stem cells

Stable joint cartilage can be produced from adult stem cells originating from bone marrow. This is made possible by inducing specific molecular processes occurring during embryonic cartilage formation, as researchers from the University and University Hospital of Basel report in the scientific journal PNAS.

Certain mesenchymal stem/stromal cells from the bone marrow of adults are considered extremely promising for skeletal tissue regeneration. These adult stem...

Im Focus: Like a wedge in a hinge

Researchers lay groundwork to tailor drugs for new targets in cancer therapy

In the fight against cancer, scientists are developing new drugs to hit tumor cells at so far unused weak points. Such a “sore spot” is the protein complex...