 |  | | | | Typhoon Khanun Strikes China
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09.13.05
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Latest Update: September 13, 2005 - 3:07 pm EDT
China suffered a direct hit from powerful Typhoon Khanun as the storm made
landfall in Zhejiang Province along China's east coast. So far, there have
been 14 fatalities as a result of the typhoon with an additional 9 others still
missing. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite snapped the
images below just as Khunan was coming ashore. Launched in 1997 and
armed with an array of passive and active sensors, TRMM continues to serve as
a valuable platform for monitoring tropical cyclones, over the Tropics.
Click on images to view full resolution
Left image: Taken at 06:09 UTC on 11 September 2005 just as the center of Khanun
was crossing the coast line. The image shows the horizontal distribution
of rain intensity looking down on the storm. Rain rates in the center of the
swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), while those in the outer
portion are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid
on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). TRMM
shows that the eye is becoming disrupted as the system makes landfall. A rain
band containing areas of heavy rain (dark red areas) spirals into towards the
center. A closed eye is not readily visible in this image, however. By the
time this image was taken, Khanun was already down to a Category 2 typhoon with
maximum sustained winds estimated at 90 knots (104 mph) by the Joint Typhoon
Warning Center. Just 6 hours prior, the storm was still at Category 4 intesity
with sustained winds of 115 knots (132 mph).
Right image: Taken at 06:09 UTC on 11 September 2005 just as the center of Khanun
was crossing the coast line. The TRMM PR can provide details on a storm's vertical structure. The image shows the height of the precipitation
columns within Khanun as defined by the 15 dBZ isosurface (equivalent to a light
precipitation rate). The heavy rain in the outer rain band south of the center
is associated with an area of deeper convection as denoted by the taller orange
towers. The tallest towers are only on the order of 11 km in the outer rainband
and 13 km in the convection just north of the center.
After these images were
taken, Khanun continued to quickly weaken as it moved over land.
TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
Images credit: Hal Pierce (NASA GSFC)
Captions credit: Steve Lang (NASA GSFC).
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