TROPICS Tracks Hurricane Helene

  • Released Friday, September 27, 2024
  • Last updated Tuesday, October 1, 2024 at 4:28 PM EDT
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This data visualization shows TROPICS tracking Hurricane Helene throughout most of its life cycle. On September 27th Helene rapidly intensified to a category 4 hurricane before making landfall on the Florida bend. Although weakened after landfall it was still a category 1 hurricane as it hit Georgia and a Tropical Strom over western North Carolina.

The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission is a constellation of small satellites designed to monitor global precipitation events on a much more frequent basis than what large single satellites can do. It is a short term demonstration mission supporting the concept of high cadence small CubeSat weather observations. These small satellites can be much more cost effective than their much larger counterparts, and launching many of them can provide more frequent coverage.

TROPICS monitored Hurricane Helene throughout its lifecycle. This data visualization shows how the Tropical Depression rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane before hitting Florida's bend. It then moved inland striking Georgia as a category 1 hurricane, finally flooding western North Carolina as a Tropical Storm. Helene is one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit Florida's west coast and retain strength so far inland.

Same as above, but without date overlay or hurricane track information.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

This page was originally published on Friday, September 27, 2024.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 at 4:28 PM EDT.

Datasets used

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