Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Study Predicts Mississippi Delta Gone "Soon"
Before end of the century that is.
Interesting estimate on top of medium-resolution imagery mosaic. Sell the condo in NOLA! - HLG
You are Now Free To Fly About the World
One Child Found Alive in Indian Ocean Jet Crash
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
AFP
SAN'A, Yemen — A passenger jet from Yemen with 153 people on board crashed in the Indian Ocean early Tuesday as it tried to land during heavy wind on the island nation of Comoros, a Yemeni aviation official said.
A Comoros police official said one toddler has been rescued alive from the sea. Bodies were spotted floating in the ocean and the police official said three had been recovered so far.
Yemeni civil aviation deputy chief Mohammed Abdul Qader said there were 142 passengers and a crew of 11 Yemenis on board when the plane, which had set off from the Yemeni capital of San'a, went down before landing in Moroni, on the main island of Grand Comore.
France's transport minister says French aviation inspectors found a "number of faults" during a 2007 inspection of a plane that has crashed in the Indian Ocean.
Dominique Bussereau said on France's i-Tele television Tuesday that the Airbus A310 was inspected by France's civil aviation agency DGAC in 2007 and "they noticed a certain number of faults."
The majority of the passengers were from the Comoros islands, returning home from Paris, he said. Those on board included families with children and there were at least three babies on board, he added.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement that 66 of the passengers were French. He said French aviation and naval support was heading to help in search operations at the Comoros government's request.
Abdul Qader, the Yemeni official, said bodies have been spotted floating off the archipelago and that a rescue and search effort was under way. He said Yemeni, French and Comoron officials were coordinating to investigate the plane crash.
"They spotted an oil spill 16 or 17 miles in the Ocean off the (Moroni) airport," Abdul Qader said, adding that three Comoron boats are searching for the debris and bodies. "The wind speed was 61 kilometers per hour as the plane was landing."
Rachida Abdullah, a police immigration officer who works at the operations center in the Comoros, told The Associated Press that the bodies of three Comoros nationals were recovered along with debris from the plane. She said the search was ongoing since 4 a.m. Tuesday.
Kouchner expressed "sincere condolences" and said the French Embassy in Moroni was "fully mobilized" to help families. The French junior minister for cooperation, Alain Joyandet, is heading Tuesday to Moroni, the statement said.
The Comoros is an archipelago of three main islands situated about 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometer) south of Yemen, between Africa's southeastern coast and Madagascar.
In France, Christophe Prazuck, French military spokesman, says that patrol boat, the Rieuse and fregate Nivose, a reconnaissance ship, were being sent to crash site as well as Transall, a military transport plane.
The French were sending divers as well as medical personnel on the plane, he said.
On the Indian Ocean island of Ile de la Reunion, an official statement from the French prefecture said the crash occurred at 0250 GMT Tuesday.
In Paris, a crisis cell was set up at Charles de Gaulle airport.
According to Paris Airports press service, 67 of the passengers on board the Airbus 310 had flown from France on Monday on an Airbus 330. Most of them were from the French city of Marseille, which has a large Comoros community and where the plane briefly landed to pick up more crew and passengers.
Another crisis cell has been established in Marseille, according to Stephane Salord, the consul general of the Comoros in the Provence-Alps-Cote d'Azur region of France.
"There is considerable dismay," Salord said. "These are families that, each year on the eve of summer, leave Marseille and the region to rejoin their families in the Comoros and spend their holidays."
In France, this week is the start of annual summer school vacations.
An Airbus statement said the plane that crashed went into service 19 years ago, in 1990, and had accumulated 51,900 flight hours. It has been operated by Yemenia (Yemen Airways) since 1999.
Airbus identifies the plane's serial number as 535, and said it was sending a team of specialists to the Comoros.
The A310-300 is a twin-engine widebody jet that can seat up to 220 passengers. There are 214 A310s in service worldwide with 41 operators.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
AFP
SAN'A, Yemen — A passenger jet from Yemen with 153 people on board crashed in the Indian Ocean early Tuesday as it tried to land during heavy wind on the island nation of Comoros, a Yemeni aviation official said.
A Comoros police official said one toddler has been rescued alive from the sea. Bodies were spotted floating in the ocean and the police official said three had been recovered so far.
Yemeni civil aviation deputy chief Mohammed Abdul Qader said there were 142 passengers and a crew of 11 Yemenis on board when the plane, which had set off from the Yemeni capital of San'a, went down before landing in Moroni, on the main island of Grand Comore.
France's transport minister says French aviation inspectors found a "number of faults" during a 2007 inspection of a plane that has crashed in the Indian Ocean.
Dominique Bussereau said on France's i-Tele television Tuesday that the Airbus A310 was inspected by France's civil aviation agency DGAC in 2007 and "they noticed a certain number of faults."
The majority of the passengers were from the Comoros islands, returning home from Paris, he said. Those on board included families with children and there were at least three babies on board, he added.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement that 66 of the passengers were French. He said French aviation and naval support was heading to help in search operations at the Comoros government's request.
Abdul Qader, the Yemeni official, said bodies have been spotted floating off the archipelago and that a rescue and search effort was under way. He said Yemeni, French and Comoron officials were coordinating to investigate the plane crash.
"They spotted an oil spill 16 or 17 miles in the Ocean off the (Moroni) airport," Abdul Qader said, adding that three Comoron boats are searching for the debris and bodies. "The wind speed was 61 kilometers per hour as the plane was landing."
Rachida Abdullah, a police immigration officer who works at the operations center in the Comoros, told The Associated Press that the bodies of three Comoros nationals were recovered along with debris from the plane. She said the search was ongoing since 4 a.m. Tuesday.
Kouchner expressed "sincere condolences" and said the French Embassy in Moroni was "fully mobilized" to help families. The French junior minister for cooperation, Alain Joyandet, is heading Tuesday to Moroni, the statement said.
The Comoros is an archipelago of three main islands situated about 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometer) south of Yemen, between Africa's southeastern coast and Madagascar.
In France, Christophe Prazuck, French military spokesman, says that patrol boat, the Rieuse and fregate Nivose, a reconnaissance ship, were being sent to crash site as well as Transall, a military transport plane.
The French were sending divers as well as medical personnel on the plane, he said.
On the Indian Ocean island of Ile de la Reunion, an official statement from the French prefecture said the crash occurred at 0250 GMT Tuesday.
In Paris, a crisis cell was set up at Charles de Gaulle airport.
According to Paris Airports press service, 67 of the passengers on board the Airbus 310 had flown from France on Monday on an Airbus 330. Most of them were from the French city of Marseille, which has a large Comoros community and where the plane briefly landed to pick up more crew and passengers.
Another crisis cell has been established in Marseille, according to Stephane Salord, the consul general of the Comoros in the Provence-Alps-Cote d'Azur region of France.
"There is considerable dismay," Salord said. "These are families that, each year on the eve of summer, leave Marseille and the region to rejoin their families in the Comoros and spend their holidays."
In France, this week is the start of annual summer school vacations.
An Airbus statement said the plane that crashed went into service 19 years ago, in 1990, and had accumulated 51,900 flight hours. It has been operated by Yemenia (Yemen Airways) since 1999.
Airbus identifies the plane's serial number as 535, and said it was sending a team of specialists to the Comoros.
The A310-300 is a twin-engine widebody jet that can seat up to 220 passengers. There are 214 A310s in service worldwide with 41 operators.
Monday, June 29, 2009
WEATHER CHANNEL DISASTER
They moved Nicole Mitchell from the fantastic morning spot to 10:00 pm weekdays so they can salvage the Abrams/Bettis disaster. Now it is impossible to watch the Weather Channel in the mornings. Thanks NBC.
Very Small Thunderstorms
Can still cause terrible tragedy. - HLG
Professor, Daughter Killed by Falling Tree
Monday, June 29, 2009
CHEVY CHASE, Md. — A woman killed when a tree struck her van in Montgomery County has been identified as a professor at Loyola College in Baltimore.
Police say 40-year-old Kelly M. Murray of Chevy Chase and her 7-year-old daughter were killed Friday on Connecticut Avenue near East-West Highway when a tree branch struck their vehicle. Murray and her daughter, Sloane, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Four other daughters, ranging in age from 10 months to 11 years old, and two of the girls' friends also were in the minivan as they returned from swim practice.
Murray was an associate professor of pastoral counseling at Loyola, where she had taught since 2001
Professor, Daughter Killed by Falling Tree
Monday, June 29, 2009
CHEVY CHASE, Md. — A woman killed when a tree struck her van in Montgomery County has been identified as a professor at Loyola College in Baltimore.
Police say 40-year-old Kelly M. Murray of Chevy Chase and her 7-year-old daughter were killed Friday on Connecticut Avenue near East-West Highway when a tree branch struck their vehicle. Murray and her daughter, Sloane, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Four other daughters, ranging in age from 10 months to 11 years old, and two of the girls' friends also were in the minivan as they returned from swim practice.
Murray was an associate professor of pastoral counseling at Loyola, where she had taught since 2001
Washington DC Weather Obs June 29, 2009
1 PM (17) Jun 29 82.0 (27.8) 55.0 (12.8) 29.58 (1001) WSW 10
Noon (16) Jun 29 81.0 (27.2) 55.0 (12.8) 29.59 (1002) W 13
11 AM (15) Jun 29 79.0 (26.1) 54.0 (12.2) 29.6 (1002) W 13
10 AM (14) Jun 29 77.0 (25.0) 52.0 (11.1) 29.6 (1002) NNW 8
Ahhhhhh - HLG
Noon (16) Jun 29 81.0 (27.2) 55.0 (12.8) 29.59 (1002) W 13
11 AM (15) Jun 29 79.0 (26.1) 54.0 (12.2) 29.6 (1002) W 13
10 AM (14) Jun 29 77.0 (25.0) 52.0 (11.1) 29.6 (1002) NNW 8
Ahhhhhh - HLG
New Time your PC Reboots, This May be Why!
Supernovas Blast Out Hugely Powerful Cosmic Rays
Monday, June 29, 2009
By Clara Moskowitz
As astronomers have long expected, exploding stars called supernovas can accelerate particles up to almost the speed of light, a new study shows.
The discovery helps explain where the extremely energetic cosmic rays we find near Earth come from.
Cosmic rays are charged particles, mostly protons, that come swooping through space from beyond the solar system. They carry such an energetic punch they can knock out electronics systems on Earth if they manage to make it past our atmosphere.
Until now, scientists couldn't be sure how cosmic rays acquire their energy and speed.
"It has long been thought that the super-accelerators that produce these cosmic rays in the Milky Way are the expanding envelopes created by exploded stars, but our observations reveal the smoking gun that proves it," said Eveline Helder of the Astronomical Institute Utrecht of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, leader of the new study.
When a star dies in a supernova, the blast releases a huge amount of energy. Much of that energy is used to heat up a bubble of gas that expands around the remnant of the star. Some energy, though, goes toward speeding up the particles that become cosmic rays, the researchers determined.
"When a star explodes in what we call a supernova a large part of the explosion energy is used for accelerating some particles up to extremely high energies," Helder said. "The energy that is used for particle acceleration is at the expense of heating the gas, which is therefore much colder than theory predicts."
Helder and team looked at the leftovers from a supernova called RCW 86 with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. The star exploded about 8200 light-years away in AD 185, and was recorded by Chinese astronomers.
The modern researchers measured the temperature and speed of the gas behind the shock wave created by the stellar explosion. They found that the gas, at 54 million degrees Fahrenheit (30 million degrees Celsius), was much lower than would be expected given the shock wave's velocity.
Rather than heat up the gas, some of the supernova's energy went toward speeding up particles to near the velocity of light, the astronomers concluded.
"The missing energy is what drives the cosmic rays," said collaborator Jacco Vink, also from the Astronomical Institute Utrecht.
Helder and team describe their findings in the June 26 issue of the journal Science.
Monday, June 29, 2009
By Clara Moskowitz
As astronomers have long expected, exploding stars called supernovas can accelerate particles up to almost the speed of light, a new study shows.
The discovery helps explain where the extremely energetic cosmic rays we find near Earth come from.
Cosmic rays are charged particles, mostly protons, that come swooping through space from beyond the solar system. They carry such an energetic punch they can knock out electronics systems on Earth if they manage to make it past our atmosphere.
Until now, scientists couldn't be sure how cosmic rays acquire their energy and speed.
"It has long been thought that the super-accelerators that produce these cosmic rays in the Milky Way are the expanding envelopes created by exploded stars, but our observations reveal the smoking gun that proves it," said Eveline Helder of the Astronomical Institute Utrecht of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, leader of the new study.
When a star dies in a supernova, the blast releases a huge amount of energy. Much of that energy is used to heat up a bubble of gas that expands around the remnant of the star. Some energy, though, goes toward speeding up the particles that become cosmic rays, the researchers determined.
"When a star explodes in what we call a supernova a large part of the explosion energy is used for accelerating some particles up to extremely high energies," Helder said. "The energy that is used for particle acceleration is at the expense of heating the gas, which is therefore much colder than theory predicts."
Helder and team looked at the leftovers from a supernova called RCW 86 with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. The star exploded about 8200 light-years away in AD 185, and was recorded by Chinese astronomers.
The modern researchers measured the temperature and speed of the gas behind the shock wave created by the stellar explosion. They found that the gas, at 54 million degrees Fahrenheit (30 million degrees Celsius), was much lower than would be expected given the shock wave's velocity.
Rather than heat up the gas, some of the supernova's energy went toward speeding up particles to near the velocity of light, the astronomers concluded.
"The missing energy is what drives the cosmic rays," said collaborator Jacco Vink, also from the Astronomical Institute Utrecht.
Helder and team describe their findings in the June 26 issue of the journal Science.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
GOES!!!
NOAA Press Release
New NOAA Satellite Reaches Orbit
Satellite features enhanced severe weather and solar storm detection capabilities
June 27, 2009
GOES-O launched at Space Launch Complex-37, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
High resolution (Credit: NASA)
NOAA and NASA officials announced a new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), launched tonight, successfully reached orbit, joining three other GOES spacecraft that help NOAA forecasters track life-threatening weather and solar storms.
The new satellite, GOES-14, lifted off at 6:51 p.m. (EDT) from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and separated from the launch vehicle at 11:12 p.m (EDT). At the same time, the first signal was captured at the Air Force Tracking Station, Diego Garcia, located in the Indian Ocean.
“Reliable satellite coverage helps us see severe weather as it develops,” said Mary E. Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service. “With more than a thousand tornadoes touching down in the United States each year, and hurricanes a serious risk to residents along the Gulf and East coastlines, it’s critical GOES-14 is in orbit and ready when needed.”
GOES-14 is the second spacecraft in the GOES-N/O/P series and features significant improvements in the instruments that capture high-resolution pictures of weather patterns and atmospheric measurements.
“The imagery and data we get from GOES is key to our ability to continuously monitor and diagnose weather in the tropics,” said Bill Read, director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami. “Continued improvements in the type and quality of GOES data will contribute to improvements in tropical cyclone forecasts”.
GOES-14 also provides expanded measurements for space and solar environment monitoring, including the Solar X-Ray Imager. The SXI is improving forecasts and warnings for solar disturbances, protecting billions of dollars of commercial and government assets in space and on the ground and lessening the effect of power surges for the satellite-based electronics and communications industry
NOAA has two operational GOES satellites hovering 22,300 miles above the equator – GOES-12, in the east, and GOES-11, in the west – each provide continuous observations of environmental conditions of North, Central and South America and surrounding oceans. While these two are operational, another GOES satellite, GOES-13, is in orbital storage and can be activated if one of the other satellites experiences trouble. These satellites supply the data critical for fast, accurate weather forecasts and warnings, detecting solar storm activity and relaying distress signals from emergency beacons.
Once it reaches geostationary orbit, GOES-14 will undergo a series of tests for approximately six months before completing its “check-out” phase. After check out, GOES-14 will be placed into orbital storage mode.
NOAA manages the operational environmental satellite program and establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., procures and manages the development and launch of the satellites for NOAA on a cost reimbursable basis.
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Flooding from TC "AILA"
There was substantial flooding from last week's TC in Bangladesh, as seen in this MODIS image. - HLG
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Atlantic Ocean Dust Mosaic
Very nice three pass mosaic of a Sahara dust plume travelling all the way west across the sub-tropical Atlantic. - HLG
Check out my photos on Facebook
|
Dr BB's Challenge
Best Pic of the Day?
I am going with this supercomputer simulation of magnetic fields and sunpot activity in the sun's photosphere, AND adding the image of the moon shortly before the Japanese probe kamakazied into the moon. - HLG
Thar's a hole in the bucket....
... dear NASA, dear NASA - Thar's a hole in the bucket dear NASA a hole... Shot taken from the International Space Station over Sarychev Peak volcano, which is north of Japan and east of Russia.
BB
BB
Monday, June 22, 2009
Two Awesome Pacific Storms
Very different, but equally awesome. First strong TC ("LINFA")off China this year, and a strong Aleutian Low with fantastic bow waves over the Aleutian Islands. - HLG
TD "2" Off Tampico?
Sure looks like a small circulation just SE of Tampico, MX, in the visible. What say you tropical prognosticators? - HLG
"Convective Turbulence"?
VS "Laminar Turbulence"? Have a nice flight! - HLG
Quantas Jet Plunges 800 Feet in Turbulence Scare
Monday, June 22, 2009
Horrified passengers saw people hurled around the cabin of a Qantas Airbus as it hit severe turbulence during a flight from Hong Kong to Perth.
A dozen people were treated for minor injuries after the plane lifted and dropped about 820 feet due to "convective turbulence."
The jet, an A330-300 with 206 passengers and 13 crew on board, was four hours out of Hong Kong when it hit the turbulence over Borneo at about 2.30 a.m. local time Monday (12:30 p.m. EST Sunday), a Qantas spokesman said.
"The aircraft most likely encountered what is known as convective turbulence, which led to it rapidly gaining around 800 feet in altitude before returning to its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet," Qantas spokesman David Epstein said.
One passenger described the incident as a brief but terrifying plunge that felt "like falling out of a 30-story building."
Others told of their horror as they saw passengers flung around the cabin, some hitting the ceiling and crashing back into seats and the cabin floor. After the injured received first-aid treatment on board, paramedics were waiting to treat them when the plane landed in Perth.
Twelve people were treated at two Perth hospitals for injuries including bruising and neck and back pain and had been discharged later that afternoon
Quantas Jet Plunges 800 Feet in Turbulence Scare
Monday, June 22, 2009
Horrified passengers saw people hurled around the cabin of a Qantas Airbus as it hit severe turbulence during a flight from Hong Kong to Perth.
A dozen people were treated for minor injuries after the plane lifted and dropped about 820 feet due to "convective turbulence."
The jet, an A330-300 with 206 passengers and 13 crew on board, was four hours out of Hong Kong when it hit the turbulence over Borneo at about 2.30 a.m. local time Monday (12:30 p.m. EST Sunday), a Qantas spokesman said.
"The aircraft most likely encountered what is known as convective turbulence, which led to it rapidly gaining around 800 feet in altitude before returning to its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet," Qantas spokesman David Epstein said.
One passenger described the incident as a brief but terrifying plunge that felt "like falling out of a 30-story building."
Others told of their horror as they saw passengers flung around the cabin, some hitting the ceiling and crashing back into seats and the cabin floor. After the injured received first-aid treatment on board, paramedics were waiting to treat them when the plane landed in Perth.
Twelve people were treated at two Perth hospitals for injuries including bruising and neck and back pain and had been discharged later that afternoon
Friday, June 19, 2009
Solar Jet Stream Moving Slowly?
Sunspot Delay Due to Sluggish Solar "Jet Stream"?
Anne Minard
for National Geographic News
June 19, 2009
A sluggish, jet stream-like flow deep inside the sun could be to blame for the delay in increased solar activity that has been stumping astronomers.
The jet stream, which is actually a plasma current called a torsional oscillation, has been migrating more slowly than usual through the star's interior, according to a team led by Frank Hill of the National Solar Observatory in Tucson, Arizona.
Every 11 years the sun generates new jet streams near its poles. These streams slowly shift from east to west toward the solar equator over a period of 17 years.
When the stream reaches a certain latitude, the sun starts producing new sunspots—relatively cool, dark regions on the sun that mark areas of magnetic disturbance.
But the stream associated with the current cycle of solar activity has been moving even slower than normal, Hill said.
Obvious in Hindsight?
Based on new data from sun-tracking instruments known as the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), Hill and colleagues saw that it took an extra year for the stream to cross a distance of 10 degrees latitude, compared with previous solar cycles.
The new measurements also show that the stream has finally reached the critical latitude linked to sunspot production, which could explain why solar activity finally seems to be picking up.
"It's not clear whether this [slower jet stream] is a cause or a consequence" of the mysterious solar quiet, Hill said. "But the fact that we see it a couple of years in advance [of the sun's extended quiet] makes me think it's a cause."
Jesper Schou, an astrophysicist at Stanford University who works on SOHO, said that, since the stream's sluggish motion had shown up in previous data, in hindsight the solar quiet might have been predicted.
But both GONG and SOHO, right now the best instruments for monitoring the sun's interior, have been in operation for only 14 years. That's a relatively short period for scientists to get comfortable with the type of data being returned. By contrast, sunspots have been tracked as a measure of solar activity for hundreds of years.
"You need some amount of confidence" with the data before recognizing any discrepancies, Schou said. "After a while it's like, Oh, it looks very obvious."
Findings presented this week at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society Solar Physics Division in Boulder, Colorado.
Anne Minard
for National Geographic News
June 19, 2009
A sluggish, jet stream-like flow deep inside the sun could be to blame for the delay in increased solar activity that has been stumping astronomers.
The jet stream, which is actually a plasma current called a torsional oscillation, has been migrating more slowly than usual through the star's interior, according to a team led by Frank Hill of the National Solar Observatory in Tucson, Arizona.
Every 11 years the sun generates new jet streams near its poles. These streams slowly shift from east to west toward the solar equator over a period of 17 years.
When the stream reaches a certain latitude, the sun starts producing new sunspots—relatively cool, dark regions on the sun that mark areas of magnetic disturbance.
But the stream associated with the current cycle of solar activity has been moving even slower than normal, Hill said.
Obvious in Hindsight?
Based on new data from sun-tracking instruments known as the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), Hill and colleagues saw that it took an extra year for the stream to cross a distance of 10 degrees latitude, compared with previous solar cycles.
The new measurements also show that the stream has finally reached the critical latitude linked to sunspot production, which could explain why solar activity finally seems to be picking up.
"It's not clear whether this [slower jet stream] is a cause or a consequence" of the mysterious solar quiet, Hill said. "But the fact that we see it a couple of years in advance [of the sun's extended quiet] makes me think it's a cause."
Jesper Schou, an astrophysicist at Stanford University who works on SOHO, said that, since the stream's sluggish motion had shown up in previous data, in hindsight the solar quiet might have been predicted.
But both GONG and SOHO, right now the best instruments for monitoring the sun's interior, have been in operation for only 14 years. That's a relatively short period for scientists to get comfortable with the type of data being returned. By contrast, sunspots have been tracked as a measure of solar activity for hundreds of years.
"You need some amount of confidence" with the data before recognizing any discrepancies, Schou said. "After a while it's like, Oh, it looks very obvious."
Findings presented this week at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society Solar Physics Division in Boulder, Colorado.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Typhoons Trigger "Silent" Earthquakes
"Silent", but apprently not Deadly! - HLG
Typhoons Can Trigger Earthquakes, Study Suggests
Rebecca Carroll
for National Geographic News
June 10, 2009
Slow earthquakes are seismic events during which pressure is released along fault lines over the course of minutes or even days.
Alan Linde of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., and colleagues placed highly sensitive equipment along the eastern coast of Taiwan to record the otherwise imperceptible slow quakes. (See a Taiwan map.)
To their surprise, the scientists noticed a strong link between slow quakes and typhoons, the name used for hurricanes in the western Pacific.
Over a five-year study period, slow earthquakes happened only during the annual typhoon season, and 11 of the recorded quakes happened at the same time as typhoons.
"We had no idea that we'd see [these] events triggered by typhoons. That never crossed our minds," Linde said.
Last Straw
Despite the surprise, the connection makes sense, the researchers say.
Typhoons are low-pressure systems. When the storms stir up the ocean, local sea levels change to maintain a balance in pressure on the ocean floor.
"On the land side, however, there's nothing to move [to create such a balance], so the pressure on the land is slightly decreased during the typhoon," Linde said.
This means the storm becomes the proverbial last straw, pushing faults that were on the verge of movement into action.
"The typhoons act as a trigger, but they can only do this if the fault is almost ready to fail," Linde said.
The new findings help shed light on how and why different kinds of earthquakes happen, which could eventually lead to better earthquake predictions.
Slow earthquakes, for example, are already suspected of relieving seismic pressure in certain parts of the world. The relatively quiet events could explain why Taiwan has so much seismic motion but so few major quakes.
"The Earth is so wretchedly complicated," Linde said. "Every time you get some new information that tells you something about the way a fault fails, it helps."
Findings presented in this week's issue of the journal Nature
Typhoons Can Trigger Earthquakes, Study Suggests
Rebecca Carroll
for National Geographic News
June 10, 2009
Slow earthquakes are seismic events during which pressure is released along fault lines over the course of minutes or even days.
Alan Linde of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., and colleagues placed highly sensitive equipment along the eastern coast of Taiwan to record the otherwise imperceptible slow quakes. (See a Taiwan map.)
To their surprise, the scientists noticed a strong link between slow quakes and typhoons, the name used for hurricanes in the western Pacific.
Over a five-year study period, slow earthquakes happened only during the annual typhoon season, and 11 of the recorded quakes happened at the same time as typhoons.
"We had no idea that we'd see [these] events triggered by typhoons. That never crossed our minds," Linde said.
Last Straw
Despite the surprise, the connection makes sense, the researchers say.
Typhoons are low-pressure systems. When the storms stir up the ocean, local sea levels change to maintain a balance in pressure on the ocean floor.
"On the land side, however, there's nothing to move [to create such a balance], so the pressure on the land is slightly decreased during the typhoon," Linde said.
This means the storm becomes the proverbial last straw, pushing faults that were on the verge of movement into action.
"The typhoons act as a trigger, but they can only do this if the fault is almost ready to fail," Linde said.
The new findings help shed light on how and why different kinds of earthquakes happen, which could eventually lead to better earthquake predictions.
Slow earthquakes, for example, are already suspected of relieving seismic pressure in certain parts of the world. The relatively quiet events could explain why Taiwan has so much seismic motion but so few major quakes.
"The Earth is so wretchedly complicated," Linde said. "Every time you get some new information that tells you something about the way a fault fails, it helps."
Findings presented in this week's issue of the journal Nature
Little Ice Age Coming?
Sun Oddly Quiet -- Hints at Next "Little Ice Age"?
Anne Minard
for National Geographic News
May 4, 2009
A prolonged lull in solar activity has astrophysicists glued to their telescopes waiting to see what the sun will do next—and how Earth's climate might respond.
The sun is the least active it's been in decades and the dimmest in a hundred years. The lull is causing some scientists to recall the Little Ice Age, an unusual cold spell in Europe and North America, which lasted from about 1300 to 1850.
The coldest period of the Little Ice Age, between 1645 and 1715, has been linked to a deep dip in solar storms known as the Maunder Minimum.
During that time, access to Greenland was largely cut off by ice, and canals in Holland routinely froze solid. Glaciers in the Alps engulfed whole villages, and sea ice increased so much that no open water flowed around Iceland in the year 1695.
But researchers are on guard against their concerns about a new cold snap being misinterpreted.
"[Global warming] skeptics tend to leap forward," said Mike Lockwood, a solar terrestrial physicist at the University of Southampton in the U.K. (Get the facts about global warming.)
He and other researchers are therefore engaged in what they call "preemptive denial" of a solar minimum leading to global cooling.
Even if the current solar lull is the beginning of a prolonged quiet, the scientists say, the star's effects on climate will pale in contrast with the influence of human-made greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2).
"I think you have to bear in mind that the CO2 is a good 50 to 60 percent higher than normal, whereas the decline in solar output is a few hundredths of one percent down," Lockwood said. "I think that helps keep it in perspective."
Even so, Lockwood added, small variations in the sun's brightness are more powerful than changes in greenhouse gas contributions. For example, a 50 percent variation in solar brightness would mean the end of life on Earth
Anne Minard
for National Geographic News
May 4, 2009
A prolonged lull in solar activity has astrophysicists glued to their telescopes waiting to see what the sun will do next—and how Earth's climate might respond.
The sun is the least active it's been in decades and the dimmest in a hundred years. The lull is causing some scientists to recall the Little Ice Age, an unusual cold spell in Europe and North America, which lasted from about 1300 to 1850.
The coldest period of the Little Ice Age, between 1645 and 1715, has been linked to a deep dip in solar storms known as the Maunder Minimum.
During that time, access to Greenland was largely cut off by ice, and canals in Holland routinely froze solid. Glaciers in the Alps engulfed whole villages, and sea ice increased so much that no open water flowed around Iceland in the year 1695.
But researchers are on guard against their concerns about a new cold snap being misinterpreted.
"[Global warming] skeptics tend to leap forward," said Mike Lockwood, a solar terrestrial physicist at the University of Southampton in the U.K. (Get the facts about global warming.)
He and other researchers are therefore engaged in what they call "preemptive denial" of a solar minimum leading to global cooling.
Even if the current solar lull is the beginning of a prolonged quiet, the scientists say, the star's effects on climate will pale in contrast with the influence of human-made greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2).
"I think you have to bear in mind that the CO2 is a good 50 to 60 percent higher than normal, whereas the decline in solar output is a few hundredths of one percent down," Lockwood said. "I think that helps keep it in perspective."
Even so, Lockwood added, small variations in the sun's brightness are more powerful than changes in greenhouse gas contributions. For example, a 50 percent variation in solar brightness would mean the end of life on Earth
Advancing Glaciers, Oh My!
Argentine Glacier Advances
Sunday, June 14, 2009
ShareThis
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier is one of only a few ice fields worldwide that have withstood rising global temperatures.
Nourished by Andean snowmelt, the glacier constantly grows even as it spawns icebergs the size of apartment buildings into a frigid lake, maintaining a nearly perfect equilibrium since measurements began more than a century ago.
"We're not sure why this happens," said Andres Rivera, a glacialist with the Center for Scientific Studies in Valdivia, Chile. "But not all glaciers respond equally to climate change."
Viewed at a safe distance on cruise boats or the wooden observation deck just beyond the glacier's leading edge, Perito Moreno's jagged surface radiates a brilliant white in the strong Patagonian sun. Submerged sections glow deep blue.
And when the wind blows in a cloud cover, the 3-mile-wide glacier seems to glow from within as the surrounding mountains and water turn a meditative gray.
Every few years, Perito Moreno expands enough to touch a point of land across Lake Argentina, cutting the nation's largest freshwater lake in half and forming an ice dam as it presses against the shore.
The water on one side of the dam surges against the glacier, up to 200 feet above lake level, until it breaks the ice wall with a thunderous crash, drowning the applause of hundreds of tourists.
"It's like a massive building falling all of the sudden," said park ranger Javier D'Angelo, who experienced the rupture in 2008 and 1998.
The rupture is a reminder that while Perito Moreno appears to be a vast, 19-mile-long frozen river, it's a dynamic icescape that moves and cracks unexpectedly.
"The glacier has a lot of life," said Luli Gavina, who leads mini-treks across the glacier's snow fields
Sunday, June 14, 2009
ShareThis
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier is one of only a few ice fields worldwide that have withstood rising global temperatures.
Nourished by Andean snowmelt, the glacier constantly grows even as it spawns icebergs the size of apartment buildings into a frigid lake, maintaining a nearly perfect equilibrium since measurements began more than a century ago.
"We're not sure why this happens," said Andres Rivera, a glacialist with the Center for Scientific Studies in Valdivia, Chile. "But not all glaciers respond equally to climate change."
Viewed at a safe distance on cruise boats or the wooden observation deck just beyond the glacier's leading edge, Perito Moreno's jagged surface radiates a brilliant white in the strong Patagonian sun. Submerged sections glow deep blue.
And when the wind blows in a cloud cover, the 3-mile-wide glacier seems to glow from within as the surrounding mountains and water turn a meditative gray.
Every few years, Perito Moreno expands enough to touch a point of land across Lake Argentina, cutting the nation's largest freshwater lake in half and forming an ice dam as it presses against the shore.
The water on one side of the dam surges against the glacier, up to 200 feet above lake level, until it breaks the ice wall with a thunderous crash, drowning the applause of hundreds of tourists.
"It's like a massive building falling all of the sudden," said park ranger Javier D'Angelo, who experienced the rupture in 2008 and 1998.
The rupture is a reminder that while Perito Moreno appears to be a vast, 19-mile-long frozen river, it's a dynamic icescape that moves and cracks unexpectedly.
"The glacier has a lot of life," said Luli Gavina, who leads mini-treks across the glacier's snow fields
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Are we in an El Nino cycle?
Yes or no, please, oceanographers!
The SW jet has recently become very vigorous. Is this the final sign that an El Nino cycle has started? - HLG
The SW jet has recently become very vigorous. Is this the final sign that an El Nino cycle has started? - HLG
Multiple Gravity Waves in Texas
The visible loop in Texas has been amazing today. There are at least two distinct, maybe three, gravity waves from the same CB complex. - HLG
No Watch Was Up at the Time
Oops! - HLG
Tornado Touchdown In Dundalk Confirmed
Power Restored To Most Residents
POSTED: 8:26 am EDT June 11, 2009
BALTIMORE -- The National Weather Service confirmed Thursday that a tornado touched down Tuesday afternoon in southeast Baltimore County.
The tornado touched down in Dundalk during a storm that damaged buildings and knocked down trees.
Sky Team 11 captured this image of a lightning strike Tuesday afternoon.
NWS science officer Steven Zubricks said wind speed of a maximum of 70 mph during the storm was consistent with an EF-0 rated tornado, the minimum rating.
Officials examined damage, reviewed weather instruments and took statements from residents to make the determination.
"Trash, trees, limbs, debris, blowing around. It was crazy for, like, five minutes," Dundalk resident Katrina Turner told 11 News. "Then it was over."
A viewer in Towson e-mailed to report: "Trees down, definite rotation of clouds in the sky, and then there was a 15-second burst of wind that nearly ripped our front door off its hinges."
A tornado warning was issued Tuesday afternoon in Cecil County, and some people reported to 11 News that they saw funnel clouds forming throughout the area.
Tuesday's storm caused more than 70,000 outages throughout the Baltimore area, most of which have been restored. No injuries were reported.
Tornado Touchdown In Dundalk Confirmed
Power Restored To Most Residents
POSTED: 8:26 am EDT June 11, 2009
BALTIMORE -- The National Weather Service confirmed Thursday that a tornado touched down Tuesday afternoon in southeast Baltimore County.
The tornado touched down in Dundalk during a storm that damaged buildings and knocked down trees.
Sky Team 11 captured this image of a lightning strike Tuesday afternoon.
NWS science officer Steven Zubricks said wind speed of a maximum of 70 mph during the storm was consistent with an EF-0 rated tornado, the minimum rating.
Officials examined damage, reviewed weather instruments and took statements from residents to make the determination.
"Trash, trees, limbs, debris, blowing around. It was crazy for, like, five minutes," Dundalk resident Katrina Turner told 11 News. "Then it was over."
A viewer in Towson e-mailed to report: "Trees down, definite rotation of clouds in the sky, and then there was a 15-second burst of wind that nearly ripped our front door off its hinges."
A tornado warning was issued Tuesday afternoon in Cecil County, and some people reported to 11 News that they saw funnel clouds forming throughout the area.
Tuesday's storm caused more than 70,000 outages throughout the Baltimore area, most of which have been restored. No injuries were reported.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
2009 Year Without a Summer?
Appears the accuweather has created a stir in blogs everywhere. Whether you believe Joe Bastardi was mis-quoted (as he claims) or not, there is a buzz in the blogs about 2009 setting up as a "year without a summer" in much cooler than average temps for much of the eastern US. What do the studs (and the babe of course) say?
- HLG
- HLG
NWS Goes Mobile (Mapping that is)
National Weather Service To Use BlackBerry for Field GIS
June 9, 2009 - Dayton, Ohio - The National Weather Service Southern Region has purchased Freeance Mobile for the purposes of pushing ESRI map services out to BlackBerry Smartphones. The Southern Region plans on utilizing BlackBerry Smartphones for storm damage mapping and other related field events that require map viewing and GPS map point logging. Freeance Mobile will allow the National Weather Service to combine two existing platforms, ESRI ArcGIS and BlackBerry in-house with easy-to-use plug-and-play configuration software.
Now you have the chance to win Freeance Mobile software and BlackBerry Smartphones for your organization. Enter your concept or plan on how your organization can mobilize GIS on BlackBerry and win $15,000 worth of Freeance Mobile software and BlackBerry Smartphones. It's the first annual GIS on BlackBerry Awards and you could be announced as the winner at the 2009 ESRI User Conference in San Diego. You don't need to attend the User Conference to win and you don't need to be current users of Freeance Mobile or BlackBerry. All you need is your initiative and drive for mobile efficiency. Use the online entry format at www.freeance.com/wirelessaward and enter your dream for GIS mobility on BlackBerry today.
Freeance Mobile 2.0 for ArcGIS Server 9.3 will be on display in the BlackBerry booth at the 2008 ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, booth #2223.
About Freeance Mobile Software
Freeance Mobile is innovative, easy-to-use location software for efficiently making mobile applications. You can now make your ArcGIS available to anyone, anywhere, anytime. It is hassle-free software for users and IT administrators alike. Designed for the ESRI and BlackBerry environments, Freeance Mobile starting at $999 for unlimited users and combining off-the-shelf simplicity with the ability to make your own custom applications. Visit http://www.Freeance.com/mobile for more information.
June 9, 2009 - Dayton, Ohio - The National Weather Service Southern Region has purchased Freeance Mobile for the purposes of pushing ESRI map services out to BlackBerry Smartphones. The Southern Region plans on utilizing BlackBerry Smartphones for storm damage mapping and other related field events that require map viewing and GPS map point logging. Freeance Mobile will allow the National Weather Service to combine two existing platforms, ESRI ArcGIS and BlackBerry in-house with easy-to-use plug-and-play configuration software.
Now you have the chance to win Freeance Mobile software and BlackBerry Smartphones for your organization. Enter your concept or plan on how your organization can mobilize GIS on BlackBerry and win $15,000 worth of Freeance Mobile software and BlackBerry Smartphones. It's the first annual GIS on BlackBerry Awards and you could be announced as the winner at the 2009 ESRI User Conference in San Diego. You don't need to attend the User Conference to win and you don't need to be current users of Freeance Mobile or BlackBerry. All you need is your initiative and drive for mobile efficiency. Use the online entry format at www.freeance.com/wirelessaward and enter your dream for GIS mobility on BlackBerry today.
Freeance Mobile 2.0 for ArcGIS Server 9.3 will be on display in the BlackBerry booth at the 2008 ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, booth #2223.
About Freeance Mobile Software
Freeance Mobile is innovative, easy-to-use location software for efficiently making mobile applications. You can now make your ArcGIS available to anyone, anywhere, anytime. It is hassle-free software for users and IT administrators alike. Designed for the ESRI and BlackBerry environments, Freeance Mobile starting at $999 for unlimited users and combining off-the-shelf simplicity with the ability to make your own custom applications. Visit http://www.Freeance.com/mobile for more information.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Space Shuttle Passes in Front of Sun
Amazing image taken with a solar filter as the Shuttle Atlantis passed in front of the sun. - hlg
Selene (Kayuga) To be "Dropped" on Moon
Who knew Kayuga is Japanese for Selene! - HLG
May 21, 2009 Updated
KAGUYA to be dropped onto the moon's surface on June 11 as observations completed
The KAGUYA, who carried out its regular operations for about 10 months and post-operational observations for about 8 and half months, is scheduled to be maneuvered to be dropped around 80 degrees east longitude and 63 degrees south latitude on the moon's front-side surface at 3:30 a.m. on June 11 (Japan Standard Time.) As the KAGUYA's expected landing position is in the shade on the Moon, we many be able to witness some flash from its collision; therefore, we are now informing all related organizations both in Japan and overseas of its falling time and location.
* Based on the latest analysis of the orbit as of June 5, we updated the KAGUYA's falling location.
* Please note that the KAGUYA's falling time and location are subject to change as we further analyze its orbit and conditions
May 21, 2009 Updated
KAGUYA to be dropped onto the moon's surface on June 11 as observations completed
The KAGUYA, who carried out its regular operations for about 10 months and post-operational observations for about 8 and half months, is scheduled to be maneuvered to be dropped around 80 degrees east longitude and 63 degrees south latitude on the moon's front-side surface at 3:30 a.m. on June 11 (Japan Standard Time.) As the KAGUYA's expected landing position is in the shade on the Moon, we many be able to witness some flash from its collision; therefore, we are now informing all related organizations both in Japan and overseas of its falling time and location.
* Based on the latest analysis of the orbit as of June 5, we updated the KAGUYA's falling location.
* Please note that the KAGUYA's falling time and location are subject to change as we further analyze its orbit and conditions
Monday, June 8, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Lightning Strikes Teen in Head
And exits through his ankle! Please take lightning seriously. HLG
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/06/05/lightning.strikes.teen.kgw
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/06/05/lightning.strikes.teen.kgw
El Nino? What do Oceanographers Say?
Hurricane Forecast Revised as El Nino Potential GrowsWillie Drye
for National Geographic News
June 4, 2009
The Atlantic hurricane season just began Monday, and already forecasters are tweaking their predictions.
With an El Niño looking increasingly likely later this summer, Colorado State University meteorologists lowered their hurricane forecast this week.
Five of the storms should be hurricanes, meaning they'd have sustained winds of at least 74 miles (119 kilometers) an hour. Two of the hurricanes should be major hurricanes, with winds of at least 111 miles (179 kilometers) an hour, they said in a statement.
In April, Klotzbach and Gray had predicted 12 tropical storms, 6 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes. An average Atlantic hurricane season, which ends each year on November 30, sees about ten tropical storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
How El Niño Tames Hurricanes
An El Niño is an unusually warm flow of Pacific waters that in some summers forms off the northern coast of South America.
The phenomenon causes a band of upper-level prevailing winds known as the jet stream to move southward.
Blowing over the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, the jet stream creates wind shear—changes in upper-level wind speed or direction—which can disrupt hurricane formation, said Rusty Pfost, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Miami.
The last El Niño formed in 2006, and that summer's hurricane season was uneventful for the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
Why an El Niño Looks More Likely Now
Meteorologist Jeff Masters, producer of the Weather Underground Web site, said waters in the equatorial eastern Pacific have been steadily warming all year, and this makes it more likely that an El Nino will form.
"As of this week, it's right at the threshold of El Niño conditions," Masters said. "If it stays the way it is for three months, it will be classified an El Niño."
Still, the National Weather Service's Pfost noted, powerful hurricanes sometimes form in otherwise uneventful seasons.
Hurricane Andrew, the third most powerful recorded storm to make U.S. landfall, formed in the quiet summer of 1992.
"It only takes one storm like Andrew to make it a bad hurricane season," Pfost said.
for National Geographic News
June 4, 2009
The Atlantic hurricane season just began Monday, and already forecasters are tweaking their predictions.
With an El Niño looking increasingly likely later this summer, Colorado State University meteorologists lowered their hurricane forecast this week.
Five of the storms should be hurricanes, meaning they'd have sustained winds of at least 74 miles (119 kilometers) an hour. Two of the hurricanes should be major hurricanes, with winds of at least 111 miles (179 kilometers) an hour, they said in a statement.
In April, Klotzbach and Gray had predicted 12 tropical storms, 6 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes. An average Atlantic hurricane season, which ends each year on November 30, sees about ten tropical storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
How El Niño Tames Hurricanes
An El Niño is an unusually warm flow of Pacific waters that in some summers forms off the northern coast of South America.
The phenomenon causes a band of upper-level prevailing winds known as the jet stream to move southward.
Blowing over the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, the jet stream creates wind shear—changes in upper-level wind speed or direction—which can disrupt hurricane formation, said Rusty Pfost, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Miami.
The last El Niño formed in 2006, and that summer's hurricane season was uneventful for the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
Why an El Niño Looks More Likely Now
Meteorologist Jeff Masters, producer of the Weather Underground Web site, said waters in the equatorial eastern Pacific have been steadily warming all year, and this makes it more likely that an El Nino will form.
"As of this week, it's right at the threshold of El Niño conditions," Masters said. "If it stays the way it is for three months, it will be classified an El Niño."
Still, the National Weather Service's Pfost noted, powerful hurricanes sometimes form in otherwise uneventful seasons.
Hurricane Andrew, the third most powerful recorded storm to make U.S. landfall, formed in the quiet summer of 1992.
"It only takes one storm like Andrew to make it a bad hurricane season," Pfost said.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
New Type of Cloud?
Who says there is nothing new under the sun? - HLG
New Cloud Type Discovered?
June 3, 2009--These choppy clouds over Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in an undated picture could be examples of the first new type of cloud to be recognized since 1951. Or so hopes Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society.
The British cloud enthusiast said he began getting photos of "dramatic" and "weird" clouds (including the above) in 2005 that he didn't know how to define.
A few months ago he began preparing to propose the odd formations as a new cloud variety to the UN's World Meteorological Organization, which classifies cloud types.
Pretor-Pinney jokingly calls it the "Jacques Cousteau cloud," after its resemblance to a roiling ocean surface seen from below. But the cloud fan has proposed a "formal," Latin name: Undulus asperatus—roughly, "a very turbulent, violent, chaotic form of undulation," explained Pretor-Pinney, author of the new Cloud Collector's Handbook.
Asked how has such a striking cloud type could go unrecognized, Pretor-Pinney cites its rarity—and the proliferation and portability of digital cameras. "Technology has allowed us to have this new perspective on the sky."
An "asperatus" cloud rolls over New Zealand's South Island in an undated picture.
This apparently new class of clouds is still a mystery. But experts suspect asperatus clouds' choppy undersides may be due to strong winds disturbing previously stable layers of warm and cold air.
Asperatus clouds may spur the first new classification in the World Meteorological Organization's International Cloud Atlas since the 1950s, Gavin Pretor-Pinney said.
Since the last addition to the atlas, the emergence of satellite imagery has pushed meteorologists to take a much broader view on weather and focus less on small-scale cloud formations.
But "the tide is turning back again," in part because the humble cloud is seen as a "wild card" in climate-change prediction, Pretor-Pinney said
A possibly new variety of cloud, the asperatus, coats the sky in Perthshire, Scotland, in an undated picture.
Gavin Pretor-Pinney, who is proposing that asperatus clouds be officially recognized, said that clouds get a "bad rap."
"People complain about … having a cloud hanging over them, compared to someone having a sunny outlook on life," said Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society.
"To me, clouds are one of the most beautiful parts of nature. … "
—Photograph courtesy Ken Prior
If the asperatus cloud type is classified as a new variety (above, asperatus clouds over Devon, U.K. in an undated picture), it would be the first addition to the World Meteorological Organization's cloud atlas since 1951.
Asperatus's champion, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, author of The Cloud Collector's Handbook, argues for greater appreciation of his subject.
"Even if you live in the middle of the city," he said, "the sky is the last wilderness you can look out on."
—Photograph courtesy Richard Huntington
Air France Crash and ITCZ?
Air France Crash Site in Breeding Zone for Storms?
Ker Than
for National Geographic News
June 2, 2009
Searchers scouring the Atlantic Ocean for evidence of an Air France crash have spotted debris off northern Brazil's coast (map) possibly belonging to the doomed Flight 447.
The cause of Air France Flight 447's disappearance on Sunday is still unknown, but experts speculate the plane may have encountered turbulence and thunderstorms as it flew from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
SHARE
The plane's flight path took it through a tough-to-navigate breeding zone for thunderstorms near the Equator known as the intertropical convergence zone, or ITCZ.
Air France Crash Caused by Tall, Dynamic Storm Clouds?
Northern and southern trade winds crash into each other in the globe-encircling ITCZ. By pushing warm, buoyant equatorial air upward, the convergence helps fuel the zone's almost unceasing series of thousands of small storms.
"You have one thunderstorm building and another dying. It's a constant evolution of things happening," said Larry Cornman, an atmospheric scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado.
Modern jets typically outmaneuver storms, often flying above thunderclouds.
But the storm clouds in the ITCZ can merge to create towering thunderclouds whose upper reaches are higher than most commercial planes fly.
And because the storm clouds cover an area of hundreds of square miles, it's often not practical for pilots to fly around the storms.
"So what they do is typically try to weave their way through without getting into a thunderstorm," Cornman said.
High Tech Little Help to Air France Flight 447?
Making matters worse, radar is of limited use in the ITCZ.
Air turbulence and strong winds often don't show up strongly, even in areas of pervasive radar coverage, and the ITCZ is not one of those areas.
"You don't have radar [towers] out there on the ground, and there aren't enough aircraft flying through there to get meteorological reports," Cornman said.
Another potential tool, satellite imagery, doesn't have sharp enough resolution or quick enough updates for pilots to make snap decisions, he added.
In such situations, pilots often rely on one another for real-time weather reports, explained Thomas Anthony, director of the Aviation Safety and Security Program at the University of Southern California.
"Pilot reports, or 'pireps,' tells other pilots what's going on. That's where you get your reports about whether turbulence is moderate, light, or severe," Anthony said.
But the ITCZ limits the value of pireps as well, Cornman said.
"The thunderstorms are very dynamic. Even if someone flew through there ten minutes earlier, if you fly even 20 miles [30 kilometers] to the side of where they were, the conditions could be totally different," he said.
While the ITZC can be treacherous for pilots, thunderstorms alone were probably not enough to cause Air France Flight 447 to crash, experts say.
"Almost never is an aircraft accident due to a single failure," Anthony said.
"The thunderstorm may have presented the most immediate cause, but we will find there were contributing factors that led up to it and allowed this to occur."
Ker Than
for National Geographic News
June 2, 2009
Searchers scouring the Atlantic Ocean for evidence of an Air France crash have spotted debris off northern Brazil's coast (map) possibly belonging to the doomed Flight 447.
The cause of Air France Flight 447's disappearance on Sunday is still unknown, but experts speculate the plane may have encountered turbulence and thunderstorms as it flew from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
SHARE
The plane's flight path took it through a tough-to-navigate breeding zone for thunderstorms near the Equator known as the intertropical convergence zone, or ITCZ.
Air France Crash Caused by Tall, Dynamic Storm Clouds?
Northern and southern trade winds crash into each other in the globe-encircling ITCZ. By pushing warm, buoyant equatorial air upward, the convergence helps fuel the zone's almost unceasing series of thousands of small storms.
"You have one thunderstorm building and another dying. It's a constant evolution of things happening," said Larry Cornman, an atmospheric scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado.
Modern jets typically outmaneuver storms, often flying above thunderclouds.
But the storm clouds in the ITCZ can merge to create towering thunderclouds whose upper reaches are higher than most commercial planes fly.
And because the storm clouds cover an area of hundreds of square miles, it's often not practical for pilots to fly around the storms.
"So what they do is typically try to weave their way through without getting into a thunderstorm," Cornman said.
High Tech Little Help to Air France Flight 447?
Making matters worse, radar is of limited use in the ITCZ.
Air turbulence and strong winds often don't show up strongly, even in areas of pervasive radar coverage, and the ITCZ is not one of those areas.
"You don't have radar [towers] out there on the ground, and there aren't enough aircraft flying through there to get meteorological reports," Cornman said.
Another potential tool, satellite imagery, doesn't have sharp enough resolution or quick enough updates for pilots to make snap decisions, he added.
In such situations, pilots often rely on one another for real-time weather reports, explained Thomas Anthony, director of the Aviation Safety and Security Program at the University of Southern California.
"Pilot reports, or 'pireps,' tells other pilots what's going on. That's where you get your reports about whether turbulence is moderate, light, or severe," Anthony said.
But the ITCZ limits the value of pireps as well, Cornman said.
"The thunderstorms are very dynamic. Even if someone flew through there ten minutes earlier, if you fly even 20 miles [30 kilometers] to the side of where they were, the conditions could be totally different," he said.
While the ITZC can be treacherous for pilots, thunderstorms alone were probably not enough to cause Air France Flight 447 to crash, experts say.
"Almost never is an aircraft accident due to a single failure," Anthony said.
"The thunderstorm may have presented the most immediate cause, but we will find there were contributing factors that led up to it and allowed this to occur."
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Dr Gray Downgrades Tropical Season!
And we just started!
Soon he will get in line with my forecast of 25 tropical storms and 0 hurricanes! - HLG
Colorado State Downgrades Hurricane Forecast
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Print ShareThis
Cooler sea temperatures and a possible El Nino prompted the Colorado State University forecast team to reduce its Atlantic storm season prediction on Tuesday to 11 tropical storms, including five hurricanes.
In its April forecast, the noted CSU team founded by forecasting pioneer Bill Gray said the season would see 12 storms, including six hurricanes.
That forecast had been reduced from one issued in December, when the season was expected to produce 14 storms and seven hurricanes.
For the current season, which officially began on Monday and ends on November 30, two of the five hurricanes are expected to develop into "major" storms of Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.
Major hurricanes have sustained winds above 110 mph (177 mph).
The long-term average for an Atlantic hurricane season is about 10 tropical storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
Gray's team said sea surface temperatures are cooler than normal in the tropical Atlantic, where hurricanes form. Cyclones draw energy from warm water, so cooler water temperatures can lead to fewer and less intense hurricanes.
The researchers also cited the possible development of an El Nino, the warm-water phenomenon in the eastern Pacific Ocean that can suppress hurricane activity in the Atlantic.
"We believe that there is a slightly greater chance of a weak El Nino developing this summer/fall than there was in early April," Gray said in a statement. "El Nino conditions would likely increase levels of vertical wind shear and decrease Atlantic hurricane activity."
The CSU team, now headed by researcher Phil Klotzbach, said there was a 48 percent chance of a major hurricane hitting the U.S. coast, compared to a long-term average of 52 percent.
Many hurricane forecasters have called for a quieter season than last year, which saw 16 tropical storms, including eight hurricanes.
It was a rough year for Haiti, where more than 800 people were killed in four tropical storms and hurricanes, and Cuba, which was hit by three major hurricanes and sustained at least $10 billion in damage
Soon he will get in line with my forecast of 25 tropical storms and 0 hurricanes! - HLG
Colorado State Downgrades Hurricane Forecast
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Print ShareThis
Cooler sea temperatures and a possible El Nino prompted the Colorado State University forecast team to reduce its Atlantic storm season prediction on Tuesday to 11 tropical storms, including five hurricanes.
In its April forecast, the noted CSU team founded by forecasting pioneer Bill Gray said the season would see 12 storms, including six hurricanes.
That forecast had been reduced from one issued in December, when the season was expected to produce 14 storms and seven hurricanes.
For the current season, which officially began on Monday and ends on November 30, two of the five hurricanes are expected to develop into "major" storms of Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.
Major hurricanes have sustained winds above 110 mph (177 mph).
The long-term average for an Atlantic hurricane season is about 10 tropical storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
Gray's team said sea surface temperatures are cooler than normal in the tropical Atlantic, where hurricanes form. Cyclones draw energy from warm water, so cooler water temperatures can lead to fewer and less intense hurricanes.
The researchers also cited the possible development of an El Nino, the warm-water phenomenon in the eastern Pacific Ocean that can suppress hurricane activity in the Atlantic.
"We believe that there is a slightly greater chance of a weak El Nino developing this summer/fall than there was in early April," Gray said in a statement. "El Nino conditions would likely increase levels of vertical wind shear and decrease Atlantic hurricane activity."
The CSU team, now headed by researcher Phil Klotzbach, said there was a 48 percent chance of a major hurricane hitting the U.S. coast, compared to a long-term average of 52 percent.
Many hurricane forecasters have called for a quieter season than last year, which saw 16 tropical storms, including eight hurricanes.
It was a rough year for Haiti, where more than 800 people were killed in four tropical storms and hurricanes, and Cuba, which was hit by three major hurricanes and sustained at least $10 billion in damage
Monday, June 1, 2009
Happy Hurricane Season
Hopefully everyone reading this stays high and dry, and nothing blows down on your domicile! - HLG
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=5468775&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/
Click above to see interview with NHC director on the start of the 09 season.
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=5468775&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/
Click above to see interview with NHC director on the start of the 09 season.
No Fun with Flying Story :(
Air France: Missing plane hit turbulence
Associated Press • June 1, 2009
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A missing Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris ran into lightning and strong thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday. Brazil began a search mission off its northeastern coast.
Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse said it is possible the plane was hit by lightning.
Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, left Rio on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time (2200 GMT, 6 p.m. EDT) with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand.
About four hours later, the plane sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through strong turbulence, Air France said.
The plane "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence" at 0200 GMT Monday (10 p.m. EDT Sunday). An automatic message was received fourteen minutes later "signaling electrical circuit malfunction."
Brazil's air force did not know where the aircraft disappeared, but a spokesman said it was searching near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha because if an accident had happened in Brazilian waters, it would be in that area.
The spokesman said there was no immediate indication of what might have happened to the plane. He spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with department policy.
Two Brazilian Air Force planes were searching the waters about 300 kilometers northeast of the coastal city of Natal near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian air force spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with air force policy.
The region is about 1,500 miles northeast of Rio.
A police official on Fernando de Noronha said the weather was clear last night into this morning.
"It's going to take a long time to carry out this search," Douglas Ferreira Machado, head of investigation and accident prevention for Brazil's Civil Aeronautics Agency, or ANAC, told Globo news. "It could be a long, sad story. The black box will be at the bottom of the sea."
Associated Press • June 1, 2009
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A missing Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris ran into lightning and strong thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday. Brazil began a search mission off its northeastern coast.
Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse said it is possible the plane was hit by lightning.
Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, left Rio on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time (2200 GMT, 6 p.m. EDT) with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand.
About four hours later, the plane sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through strong turbulence, Air France said.
The plane "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence" at 0200 GMT Monday (10 p.m. EDT Sunday). An automatic message was received fourteen minutes later "signaling electrical circuit malfunction."
Brazil's air force did not know where the aircraft disappeared, but a spokesman said it was searching near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha because if an accident had happened in Brazilian waters, it would be in that area.
The spokesman said there was no immediate indication of what might have happened to the plane. He spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with department policy.
Two Brazilian Air Force planes were searching the waters about 300 kilometers northeast of the coastal city of Natal near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian air force spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with air force policy.
The region is about 1,500 miles northeast of Rio.
A police official on Fernando de Noronha said the weather was clear last night into this morning.
"It's going to take a long time to carry out this search," Douglas Ferreira Machado, head of investigation and accident prevention for Brazil's Civil Aeronautics Agency, or ANAC, told Globo news. "It could be a long, sad story. The black box will be at the bottom of the sea."
No Fun with Flying Story
Air France: Missing plane hit turbulence
Associated Press • June 1, 2009
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A missing Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris ran into lightning and strong thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday. Brazil began a search mission off its northeastern coast.
Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse said it is possible the plane was hit by lightning.
Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, left Rio on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time (2200 GMT, 6 p.m. EDT) with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand.
About four hours later, the plane sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through strong turbulence, Air France said.
The plane "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence" at 0200 GMT Monday (10 p.m. EDT Sunday). An automatic message was received fourteen minutes later "signaling electrical circuit malfunction."
Brazil's air force did not know where the aircraft disappeared, but a spokesman said it was searching near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha because if an accident had happened in Brazilian waters, it would be in that area.
The spokesman said there was no immediate indication of what might have happened to the plane. He spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with department policy.
Two Brazilian Air Force planes were searching the waters about 300 kilometers northeast of the coastal city of Natal near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian air force spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with air force policy.
The region is about 1,500 miles northeast of Rio.
A police official on Fernando de Noronha said the weather was clear last night into this morning.
"It's going to take a long time to carry out this search," Douglas Ferreira Machado, head of investigation and accident prevention for Brazil's Civil Aeronautics Agency, or ANAC, told Globo news. "It could be a long, sad story. The black box will be at the bottom of the sea."
Associated Press • June 1, 2009
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A missing Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris ran into lightning and strong thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday. Brazil began a search mission off its northeastern coast.
Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse said it is possible the plane was hit by lightning.
Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, left Rio on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time (2200 GMT, 6 p.m. EDT) with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand.
About four hours later, the plane sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through strong turbulence, Air France said.
The plane "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence" at 0200 GMT Monday (10 p.m. EDT Sunday). An automatic message was received fourteen minutes later "signaling electrical circuit malfunction."
Brazil's air force did not know where the aircraft disappeared, but a spokesman said it was searching near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha because if an accident had happened in Brazilian waters, it would be in that area.
The spokesman said there was no immediate indication of what might have happened to the plane. He spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with department policy.
Two Brazilian Air Force planes were searching the waters about 300 kilometers northeast of the coastal city of Natal near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian air force spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with air force policy.
The region is about 1,500 miles northeast of Rio.
A police official on Fernando de Noronha said the weather was clear last night into this morning.
"It's going to take a long time to carry out this search," Douglas Ferreira Machado, head of investigation and accident prevention for Brazil's Civil Aeronautics Agency, or ANAC, told Globo news. "It could be a long, sad story. The black box will be at the bottom of the sea."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)