APOGEE STAFF
A small constellation of CubeSats could make a big difference in hurricane readiness. Known as TROPICS – Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of SmallSats – the recently created program was designed to help scientists better understand the inner workings of hurricanes and other rapidly intensifying storms.
“As communities throughout the world are experiencing the growing impacts of increased extreme weather, it’s never been more important to get timely data to those who need it most to save livelihoods and lives,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in July 2023. “TROPICS will deliver vital information for forecasters, helping us all better prepare for hurricanes and tropical storms.”
In addition to researchers from NASA, the program is led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, and several other universities.
Its mission, according to the TROPICS website, is to observe the thermodynamics of the troposphere and precipitation structure of storm systems: “This observing system offers an unprecedented combination of horizontal and temporal resolution to measure environmental and inner-core conditions for tropical cyclones (TCs) on a nearly global scale and is a profound leap forward in the temporal resolution of several key parameters needed for detailed study of high-impact meteorological events.”
About the size of a milk carton, the satellites were deployed in two launches in the summer of 2023 by Rocket Lab. Each contains a microwave radiometer to collect data across 12 channels to detect temperatures, moisture and precipitation within and around a storm, NASA said.
The TROPICS spacecraft orbit Earth along three planes in a configuration designed to observe hurricane-prone areas, including the tropics, the mid-Atlantic and the southern coast of Australia. While other satellites might observe a hurricane every six to 12 hours, TROPICS satellites are equipped to allow for repeated hourly observations, Jason Dunion, meteorologist and director of the NOAA Hurricane Field Program, told PBS for a report in mid-2023.
By frequently observing tropical and subtropical areas, scientists should be able to stay ahead of the curve to provide warnings during rapid intensification, when tropical storms can quickly develop into hurricanes. “Being able to actually see these storms within every hour throughout the day is a pretty incredible advancement,” Dunion said.
Another unique feature is TROPICS’ ability to observe ice particles within storm clouds. Sensors sensitive to ice provide data that let researchers build animated images depicting temperature fluctuations. Cold brightness temperatures (blue) represent radiation that has been scattered by ice particles in the storm clouds. The colder the temperature, the more likely ice will be present inside a column of the atmosphere, NASA said. Ice in clouds is an indication of intense movement of heat and moisture in a storm.
Patterns observed within “brightness” temperature data can also indicate rain bands, the intensity of convection (moisture), whether the storm has formed an eye and how those structures change over time, the agency said. All of these elements are important in understanding how storms evolve.
Structural changes in brightness temperature can reveal whether a storm is intensifying or weakening. These changes are less apparent in natural-color images, which primarily show the tops of clouds, NASA said. And some features, such as the hurricane eye, often show up in microwave images before they are detected by infrared sensors on other satellites.
The annual Atlantic basin hurricane season begins on June 1 and runs through November 30. The scientists forecast 23 named storms for the 2024 season, including 11 hurricanes. The 30-year average is 14.4 named storms and 7.2 hurricanes.