With the recent image captured by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Aqua satellite, a new tropical cyclone has been detected in the Southern Indian Ocean. Named as the Tropical Cyclone 11S, it is said to bring about heavy rainfall in its area of responsibility.
In an article in Physics, NASA was able to detect Tropical Cyclone 11S through the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard the Aqua satellite. AIRS was able to capture an infrared image of the tropical cyclone on March 8 at 20:41 UTC. NASA representatives have determined that based on the image they have obtained, Tropical Cyclone 11S can be as cold as -63°F.
Through their official website, NASA informed the public that 11S exhibited strong winds with a speed nearing 46 mph (40 knots/74 kph). Tropical Cyclone 11S was found 700 nautical miles east-northeast of Mauritius. Based from the current image captured by NASA, 11S is bound to pass by Rodrigues Island and the Mascareigne Islands within the weekend until early next week.
In other news, NASA also captured images for two other tropical cyclones. On Macrh 7 and 8, NASA released the AIRS image and the image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or the MODIS instrument for the Tropical Cyclone Enawo. Enawo was seen heading towards the northeastern part of Madagascar with a wind speed of 103.6 mph (90 knots/166.7 kph). Meanwhile Tropical Cyclone Blanche also had AIRS and MODIS images when it passed by Australia on March 6.
NASA advices the public to monitor the weather in the coming days as heavy rainfall can be observed with some thunderstorms along the way. NASA also continuously tracks the paths of the three tropical cyclones with the use of the Aqua satellite which houses the AIRS and MODIS instruments. For more updates on Tropical Cyclone 11S, stay tuned only here in Science Times.
