Credit:
NASA/NOAA GOES Project
Harvey initially hit the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane on Friday (Aug. 25). NASA's aptly named Aqua satellite — "aqua" is Latin for "water" — has been gathering data that has helped scientists identify the clouds within the tropical storm that are capable of generating heavy rainfall.
On Sunday (Aug. 27), NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston was closed to everyone except mission-critical staff due to the flooding. JSC is home to Mission Control, which is responsible for NASA's operation of the International Space Station. The massive rainfall has flooded many of the roads surrounding JSC. [How to Donate to Harvey Victims Online]
The Aqua spacecraft made readings using one of its instruments, known as the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). The instrument detected the temperature of the clouds in the storm using infrared light, and scientists used that information to find out how large — and therefore how powerful — the storm clouds were in any given area the satellite surveyed, according to a NASA statement.
"The higher the cloud tops, the colder and the stronger they are," officials wrote in the statement. "So, infrared light … gathered by the AIRS instrument can identify the strongest storms within a tropical cyclone."
Credit:
NASA JPL, Ed Olsen
On Sunday morning, AIRS discovered that Harvey's coldest clouds — those capable of dropping the heaviest rainfall — were near the tropical storm's center and east-of-center, which corresponded to areas extending from southeastern Texas into southeastern Louisiana. The cold clouds have temperatures as low as minus 63 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53 degrees Celsius).
On Monday, NASA responded via Twitter to the outpouring of public concern for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which is currently housed at JSC and is set to launch in 2018. The agency confirmed that the "personnel and hardware are safe and everyone is taking appropriate precautions." [Hurricane Harvey: Photos of the Massive Storm from Space]
According to NASA's Aug. 27 announcement, JSC's senior management will evaluate the conditions of the facility and nearby roads on a "day-to-day basis." For those in need, NASA also recommended using the FEMA mobile appand the Red Cross map to locate the nearest shelters.
Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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