NASA's Satellite Duo Analyze the Humberto Hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean

Two of NASA's satellites named Aqua and TRMM gathered details about hurricane Humberto, the first hurricane of the season over the Atlantic Ocean. The storm is expected to weaken by September 12, 2013.

The data regarding the hurricane was collected by the satellite duo on September 10, 2013, at 12:36 p.m. EDT. NASA's Aqua satellite collected infrared and visible data on Humberto's clouds whereas NASA's TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) satellite measured the rate of rainfall.

The TRMM satellite provided images of rainfall rates within the storm with the help of its Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR). These images were compared with the images taken from TRMM's Visible and InfraRed Scanner (VIRS) to get a complete picture of the rainfall rates within the storm. The observations led to the conclusions that the heaviest rainfall was near the convective west storm and not close to the center of the circulation.

The rainfall rates observed by TRMM, in the bands of thunderstorms taking place in the west of Humberto's center, were about 2 inches/50 mm per hour. While Humberto was a tropical storm, its highest winds blew at the speed of around 63 mph, according to  NASA's press release.

 The Aqua satellite analyzed the storm with its instruments called AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). The data was accumulated by AIRS on September 11, which disclosed that the cloud and cloud-top temperatures were largely -63F/-52C in the thunderstorms around the center of the hurricane and in the bands of the thunderstorms present at the west of the center. The MODIS on the other hand captured the image of a dense thunderstorm band enveloping the center from the west.

On September 11, at 11 a.m. EDT the Humberto Hurricane rotated northwards and is believed it will continue in that direction for a day or two. The storm was moving towards the north at a speed of around 9 mph/15 kph with maximum sustained winds near 80 mph/130 kph. The storm is headed for cooler waters and is expected to weaken on September 12, 2013.