Forum for Science, Industry and Business

NASA sees a hot tower in first tropical depression of the eastern Pacific

Tropical Depression 1E formed when the low pressure area called System 91E strengthened overnight. Today, June 7, Tropical Depression 1E (TD1E) was located about 365 miles (590 km) south of Acapulco, Mexico near 11.6 North and 100.0 West. It had maximum sustained winds near 30 mph (45 kmh) and was moving to the northwest near 3 mph (6 kmh). Minimum central pressure was near 1006 millibars.

Tropical Depression 1E is small but thunderstorm "Hot Towers" have reached heights of about 16 km (~9.9 miles) indicating some strong convection (red) around the storm's center. Credit: SSAI/NASA Goddard, Hal Pierce

When TRMM passed over TD1E yesterday morning (it was still System 91E at that time) at 0823 UTC (4:23 p.m. EDT) its precipitation radar instrument analyzed the rainfall rates The majority of rainfall occurring at that time was moderate between .78 to 1.57 inches (20-40 mm) per hour, with some isolated areas of heavy rainfall, falling at almost 2 inches (50 mm) per hour.

More importantly, TRMM noticed some of the thunderstorms around the center of circulation were actually what is called "hot towers."

A hot tower is a rain cloud that reaches at least to the top of the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. It extends approximately nine miles (14.5 km) high in the tropics. These towers are called "hot" because they rise to such altitude due to the large amount of latent heat. Water vapor releases this latent heat as it condenses into liquid. They're also indicative of a lot of energy within a tropical depression. In the case of Tropical Depression 1E, some of the hot towers reached heights of 16 km (~9.9 miles).

The National Hurricane Center forecasts TD1E to intensify and continue moving in an north-northwesterly direction, steering away from land.

Rob Gutro | EurekAlert!
Further information:
http://www.Nasa.gov

Im Focus: Salmonella as a tumour medication

HZI researchers developed a bacterial strain that can be used in cancer therapy

Salmonellae are dangerous pathogens that enter the body via contaminated food and can cause severe infections. But these bacteria are also known to target...

Im Focus: Neutron star merger directly observed for the first time

University of Maryland researchers contribute to historic detection of gravitational waves and light created by event

On August 17, 2017, at 12:41:04 UTC, scientists made the first direct observation of a merger between two neutron stars--the dense, collapsed cores that remain...

Im Focus: Breaking: the first light from two neutron stars merging

Seven new papers describe the first-ever detection of light from a gravitational wave source. The event, caused by two neutron stars colliding and merging together, was dubbed GW170817 because it sent ripples through space-time that reached Earth on 2017 August 17. Around the world, hundreds of excited astronomers mobilized quickly and were able to observe the event using numerous telescopes, providing a wealth of new data.

Previous detections of gravitational waves have all involved the merger of two black holes, a feat that won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics earlier this month....

Im Focus: Smart sensors for efficient processes

Material defects in end products can quickly result in failures in many areas of industry, and have a massive impact on the safe use of their products. This is why, in the field of quality assurance, intelligent, nondestructive sensor systems play a key role. They allow testing components and parts in a rapid and cost-efficient manner without destroying the actual product or changing its surface. Experts from the Fraunhofer IZFP in Saarbrücken will be presenting two exhibits at the Blechexpo in Stuttgart from 7–10 November 2017 that allow fast, reliable, and automated characterization of materials and detection of defects (Hall 5, Booth 5306).

When quality testing uses time-consuming destructive test methods, it can result in enormous costs due to damaging or destroying the products. And given that...

Im Focus: Cold molecules on collision course

Using a new cooling technique MPQ scientists succeed at observing collisions in a dense beam of cold and slow dipolar molecules.

How do chemical reactions proceed at extremely low temperatures? The answer requires the investigation of molecular samples that are cold, dense, and slow at...