Hurricane Rita Sea Surface Temperature and Clouds

  • Released Thursday, September 8, 2005
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This visualization shows the sea surface temperatures during Hurricane Rita. The data is from Septemeber 17 through 22, 2005. The colors on the ocean represent the sea surface temperatures, and satellite images of the hurricane clouds are laid over the temperatures to clearly show the hurricane positions. Orange and red depict regions that are 82 degrees F and higher, where the ocean is warm enough for hurricanes to form. Hurricane winds are sustained by the heat energy of the ocean, so the ocean is cooled as the hurricane passes and the energy is extracted to power the winds. The sea surface temperatures are 3-day moving averages based on the AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite, while the cloud images were taken by the Imager on the GOES-12 satellite.

Hurricane Rita clouds and sea surface temperatures (missing cloud time steps are skipped over)

Hurricane Rita clouds and sea surface temperatures (missing cloud time steps are shown by freezing last good data frame)

Hurricane Rita clouds and sea surface temperatures on Sep 21, 2005 at 20:15GMT

Hurricane Rita clouds and sea surface temperatures on Sep 21, 2005 at 20:15GMT

Hurricane Rita clouds and sea surface temperatures on Sep 22, 2005 at 15:45GMT

Hurricane Rita clouds and sea surface temperatures on Sep 22, 2005 at 15:45GMT

Hurricane Rita clouds and sea surface temperatures on Sep 23, 2005 at 13:45GMT

Hurricane Rita clouds and sea surface temperatures on Sep 23, 2005 at 13:45GMT

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

This page was originally published on Thursday, September 8, 2005.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:56 PM EDT.

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