Tropical Storm Danny Stars In GOES Satellite Movie

NASA's GOES Project has been busy with animating satellite imagery of Tropical Storm Danny, and has created a movie of him from August 25-27.

The short movie includes still imagery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) called GOES-12, monitors weather conditions over the U.S. east coast. NASA's GOES Project, located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. creates imagery and animations from GOES-12 data, and created the movie.

The movie begins with an image on August 25 when Danny was just a low pressure area, east of the Bahamas and not yet named. The movie continues through Danny's formation and classification as a tropical storm during the morning of August 26, to the beginning of its journey up the U.S. East Coast August 27 at 2:25 p.m. EDT.

Danny's maximum sustained winds at 11 a.m. EDT, August 27 were near 60 mph, and slow strengthening is expected. He was located near 27.5 north and 73.1 west, or 550 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Danny is moving northwest near 13 mph, and is expected to turn north. Danny had a minimum central pressure near 1006 millibars.








Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:





Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Raw Video: Tornado Hits Western New York

The National Weather Service says a tornado with wind speeds as high as 110 mph touched down in Corfu, about 30 miles east of Buffalo Saturday afternoon.

Watch now:

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

GOES-O Satellite Successfully Launched

The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-O, soared into space yesterday after a successful launch from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The GOES-O spacecraft lifted off at 6:51 p.m. EDT on a Delta IV rocket. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES-O satellite will improve weather forecasting and monitor environmental events around the world. The satellite is the second to be launched in the GOES N series of geostationary environmental weather satellites.

"All indications are that GOES-O is in a normal orbit, with all spacecraft systems functioning properly," says Andre Dress, GOES deputy project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "We are proud of our support teams and pleased with the performance of the Delta IV launch vehicle."

Approximately 4 hours and 21 minutes after launch, the spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle. The Universal Space Network Western Australia tracking site in Dongara monitored the spacecraft separation.

On July 7, GOES-O will be placed in its final orbit and renamed GOES-14. Approximately 24 days after launch, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems will turn engineering control over to NASA. About five months later, NASA will transfer operational control of GOES-14 to NOAA. The satellite will be checked out, stored in orbit and available for activation should one of the operational GOES satellites degrade or exhaust its fuel.

NASA contracted with Boeing to build and launch the GOES-O spacecraft. NASA's Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida supported the launch in an advisory role. NOAA manages the GOES program, establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States.

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Video of the Day: NASA Weather Satellite Blasts Off

NASA successfully launched a rocket carrying a new weather satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, after two scrubbed launches earlier this week.

Watch now:

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:



Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Despite Recent Severe Weather, Travelers Blame Airlines Most for Flight Delays

A majority of air travelers have been delayed within the past three months -- and they are holding the airlines responsible, according to a new survey focused on consumer perceptions of the causes for air travel delays.

The survey was conducted by market research firm TNS and was based on interviews August 16-19 with 2,500 members of the TNS US online panel. Respondents were screened for past month travel and past three-month air travel.

Just this month, a Federal Aviation Administration report named June 2007 one of the worst travel months in U.S. history. At the same time, the Department of Transportation stated that the first half of 2007 was the worst for air travel delays in 13 years, when the department first began keeping statistics. The TNS study reveals that among those who expect to travel over the Labor Day holiday, 30 percent plan to travel by air. Despite the delays, the Air Transport Association expects 15.7 million passengers will fly over the Labor Day Weekend -- a 2.6 percent increase over last year. As the already busy skies become increasingly crowded this
holiday weekend, consumers can only hope that airlines will be prepared to meet the demand.

"What's interesting is that consumers are now blaming the airline itself for their travel delays more often than they blame the obvious culprits -- weather, increased summer air traffic, or both," says Tim Gohmann, senior vice president, Travel & Leisure, TNS North America. "Airlines have the opportunity to address the contributing factors such as overbooking and mechanical failure and win back some of the trust of consumers. Consumers, on the other hand, should approach Labor Day weekend prepared to face the same delays they have experienced throughout the summer."

Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:

Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Weather Service Changes In Trouble, Gov't Investigators Find

A planned new operations prototype for the National Weather Service (NWS) is in trouble, according to a new U.S. government report.

To improve the efficiency of its operations, in November 2006, NWS approved an effort to develop a prototype of an alternative way of operating. Under the prototype, weather forecasting offices would share selected responsibilities.

NWS’s prototype is currently on hold pending a reevaluation of the agency’s approach, according to the recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

The agency had just begun the first phase of its three-phased prototype to demonstrate a new concept of operations over a two-year period when, in late March, a top Department of Commerce official suspended the prototype because of concerns about the agency’s approach, GAO says.

In the first phase, NWS established a program manager and began planning for the next two phases. During the remaining phases, NWS planned to have 20 weather forecasting offices share responsibilities in two-office pairs and then in four-office clusters. NWS then planned to decide whether to implement the new concept of operations on a national basis.

"The justification for the prototype was not sufficient," GAO says. "Before the prototype was suspended, the agency had approved moving forward with its prototype without conducting a cost-benefit analysis. NWS estimated that the prototype would cost approximately $9.3 million and would offer qualitative benefits, such as increased efficiency and an improved ability to focus on severe weather events, but did not quantify benefits or the expected return on its investment. If NWS were to proceed with the prototype without a cost-benefit analysis, it would lack assurance that its approach would be a cost-effective investment for the agency."

The National Weather Service provides storm and flood warnings and weather forecasts nationwide using advanced systems and trained specialists located in 122 weather forecast offices throughout the United States.

Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

NASA Spacecraft Make First 3-D Images of Sun

NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft have made the first three-dimensional images of the sun. The new view will greatly aidscientists' ability to understand solar physics and thereby improve space weather forecasting.

"The improvement with STEREO's 3D view is like going from a regular X-ray to a 3D CAT scan in the medical field," says Michael Kaiser, STEREO project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The STEREO spacecraft were launched October 25, 2006. On January 21 they completed a series of complex maneuvers, including flying by the moon, to position the spacecraft in their mission orbits. The two observatories are now orbiting the sun, one slightly ahead of Earth and one slightlybehind, separating from each other by approximately 45 degrees per year. Just as the slight offset between a person's eyes provides depth perception, the separation of spacecraft allow 3-D images of the sun.

Violent solar weather originates in the sun's atmosphere, or corona, and can disrupt satellites, radio communication, and power grids on Earth. The corona resembles wispy smoke plumes, which flow outward along the sun'stangled magnetic fields. It's difficult for scientists to tell which structures are in front and which are behind.

"In the solar atmosphere, there are no clues to help us judge distance. Everything appears flat in the 2D plane of the sky. Having a stereoperspective just makes it so much easier," says Russell Howard of the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, the principal investigator for the SECCHI (Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation) suite of telescopes on the spacecraft.

"With STEREO's 3D imagery, we'll be able to discern where matter andenergy flows in the solar atmosphere much more precisely than with the 2D views available before. This will really help us understand the complex physics going on," says Howard.

STEREO's depth perception also will help improve space weather forecasts. Of particular concern is a destructive type of solar eruptioncalled a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). CMEs are eruptions of electrically charged gas, called plasma, from the sun's atmosphere. A CME cloud can contain billions of tons of plasma and move at a million miles per hour.

The CME cloud is laced with magnetic fields, and CMEs directed toward Earth smash into the planet's magnetic field. If the CME magnetic fieldshave the proper orientation, they dump energy and particles into Earth'smagnetic field, causing magnetic storms that can overload power lineequipment and radiation storms that disrupt satellites.

Satellite and utility operators can take precautions to minimize CME damage, but they need an accurate forecast of when the CME will arrive. To do this, forecasters need to know the location of the front of the CME cloud. STEREO will allow scientists to accurately locate the CME cloud front. "Knowing where the front of the CME cloud is will improve estimates of the arrival time from within a day or so to just a few hours," says Howard. "STEREO also will help forecasters estimate how severe the resulting magnetic storm will be."

Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

NOAA Provides Critical Lead Time for Southeast Tornadoes

Tornadoes that tore across the Southeast on Thursday struck after significant advance warning from NOAA's National Weather Service, according to the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Preliminary Tornado Warning lead times -- the amount of time between the issuance of a Tornado Warning and the touchdown of a tornado -- ranged from 12 to 55 minutes, providing critical time for the emergency message to sound NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio and television, and tornado sirens, the agency says.

For Enterprise, Ala., the preliminary tornado lead time is 18 minutes, NOAA says.

New storm-based warnings, introduced operationally by NOAA's National Weather Service last month, helped to better pinpoint the path ofyesterday's tornadoes resulting in extended lead times and a reduction inthe area warned, as compared to the previous county-based warning method. The tornado warning that included Enterprise, Ala., included a 71% reduction in areas that did not need the warning.

Starting today teams of National Weather Service meteorologists will beon the ground conducting damage surveys in order to determine the exactwind speed, width and path of each twister.

NOAA is not forecasting another severe weather outbreak in the coming days, but encourages residents across the country to purchase a NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards receiver at electronic retailers or online as an essential method of receiving potentially life-saving severe weather warnings.

Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Weather Service To Offer More Local Forecasts

Turn on the TV and all the stations are promising "More local weather!" or "Weather in your neighborhood!"

Now the federal government's getting on the bandwagon.

The National Weather Service will introduce this fall storm-based warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flash floods, and marine hazards that are more geographically specific for these short-duration weather events. Currently, such warnings are issued county wide.

The new warnings will take effect October 1.

"Weather doesn't follow geopolitical boundaries," says retired Air Force Brig. Gen. David Johnson, director of the National Weather Service. "Storm-based warnings provide the public with more specific information about the location of severe weather and the direction it is expected to move. Seconds count during tornadoes and flash floods. We want to provide the public with the most accurate description of what's happening in their neighborhood. We also want to avoid warning non-threatened portions of the county."

When issuing a warning, the National Weather Service will specify areas within a county and refer to commonly known landmarks such as highways or rivers.

"This is a fundamental change in our warning procedures and a major enhancement in our service capability," says Johnson. "Storm-based warningswill drastically improve graphical displays and empower the private sector to easily distribute the information through Web-enabled PDAs, cell phone alerts, pagers, and other technologies. Communicating severe weather threats in this way is imperative in today's digital world."


Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Enter your Email





Preview Powered by FeedBlitz