Improvements to NASA's satellite imaging technology have allowed scientists to create crystal-clear weather models to more accurately predict hurricanes and severe weather events.
Ten years ago, when Hurricane Katrina was fast approaching the Gulf Coast, scientists at NASA could hardly tell when and where exactly the storm would hit. Their satellite imaging technology only allowed them to see down to a resolution of 50 kilometers. According to a report from Gizmodo, that’s about to change.
NASA noted in a press release that while there have been drastic improvements made to their weather satellites, with resolution sharpened down to six kilometers, the real progress has been seen in the computers that analyze the weather data sent back to the surface of the Earth.
Pictures of 2005 models are barely recognizable when compared with the crystal-clear weather maps we have grown accustomed to today. NASA has been improving this technology as a part of multiple programs that aim to study how hurricanes change over time and to improve imaging technology.
The processing power of the supercomputers designed to analyze the billions of pieces of data has come a long way since Katrina as well. In 2010, NASA announced major upgrades to its weather models at the new Center for Climate Simulation. Its supercomputer “Discover” can create weather models with a resolution of only 3.5 kilometers.
After upgrades last winter, the supercomputer contains over 45,000 processor cores and operates at 1.995 petfalops. With hurricane season on its way, NASA seems prepared to detect, model, and prepare us for just about anything.