2007 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| NASA'S CLOSE-UP LOOK AT A HURRICANE'S EYE REVEALS A NEW "FUEL" SOURCE | G07-032 | 5/14/07 | 6:34 | In the eye of a furious hurricane, the weather is often quite calm and sunny. But new NASA research is providing clues about how the seemingly subtle movement of air within and around this region provides energy to keep this central "powerhouse" functioning.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): Pockets of Warm Air
- Using computer simulations and observations from the NASA Convection and Moisture Experiment (CAMEX) of 1998's Hurricane Bonnie in southern North Carolina, scientists were able to get a detailed view of pockets of swirling, warm humid air moving from the eye of the storm to the ring of strong thunderstorms in the eyewall that contributed to the intensification of the hurricane.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (2): Hurricane Bonnie Hot Towers - The simulation has also helped to explain the formation of deep "hot towers" observed in Bonnie and many other hurricanes by NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. TRMM carries the first and only space-based precipitation radar that allows researchers to peer through clouds and get a 3-D view of storm structure. It captured a particularly deep hot tower in Bonnie as the storm intensified several days before striking North Carolina.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (3): Hot Towers Illustration - Hot towers are deep, thick clouds that reach to the top of the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, usually about ten miles high in the tropics. The updrafts within these "towers" act like express elevators, accelerating the movement of energy that boosts hurricane strength, and are called "hot" because of the large amount of latent heat they release as water vapor is condensed into cloud droplets. Deep hot towers in the eyewall are usually associated with a strengthening storm.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (4): Vortices Illustration - Vortices are created in response to the rapid change in wind speed from the fierce eyewall to the calm eye. Near the surface, air spiraling inward collides with these vortices to force air up, forming updrafts. Strong updrafts in the eyewall carry moisture much higher than normal and help create hot towers. Vortices also feed high energy air from the low-level eye into the eyewall, boosting the strength of the updrafts, allowing the storm to remain stronger than expected.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (5): Interview with Dr. Scott Braun - Interview clips with NASA scientist Dr. Scott Braun
Courtesy: NASA
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