NASA satellites provide infrared images to forecasters that show temperature, and today’s imagery of powerful Hurricane Igor showed the storm’s perfect form and the warm ocean waters around it that are keeping it fueled. NASA’s infrared data also revealed a huge difference of 170 degrees between the cold cloud tops in Hurricane Igor and the warm sea surface temperatures powering it below. When NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Igor on Sept. 14 at 14:47 UTC (10:47 a.m. EDT) the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured icy cold cloud top temperatures in the strong thunderstorms that surround Igor’s well-defined eye. Those cloud top temperatures were as cold or colder than -90F, indicating they were near the top of the troposphere, and very strong.
Stunning NASA infrared imagery of Hurricane Igor reveals a 170 degree temperature difference
September 15, 2010