Characteristics of a strengthening Category 3 Hurricane Lili are
apparent in these images from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer
(MISR), including a well-developed clearing at the hurricane eye. When
these views were acquired on October 2, 2002, Lili was approaching
the Gulf coast of the United States and rapidly strengthening toward
Category 4 status. The storm's power reached its peak less than
twelve hours later, and although it weakened overnight, this was
still a dangerous system as it blew across the Louisiana coast on the
morning of October 3. Lili was the first hurricane to make landfall in
the United States since Hurricane Irene in 1999. Twenty-eight
parishes in Louisiana were declared disaster areas, yet this hurricane
fortunately caused much less damage than what could have resulted from
an event of this magnitude.
The top panel uses data from MISR's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera
and data from the red, near-infrared, and blue spectral bands
is displayed as red, green and blue to create a false-color view
in which land surfaces appear bright green. The nadir and stereo
anaglyph views are identical in their band choices, except that the
anaglyph uses data from the 26-degree forward-viewing camera for the
red band. The images are oriented with north to the left. Observing
the spectacular three-dimensional structure of the hurricane eyewall
and of convective thunderclouds present in the storm's spiral arms
requires the use of red-blue glasses, with the red filter placed
over your left eye. Information on ordering glasses can be found at
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/Help/VendorList.html#Glasses .
The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth
continuously from pole to pole, and every 9 days views the entire
globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude. These
data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired
during Terra orbit 14844. The panels cover an area of about 380
kilometers x 985 kilometers, and utilize data from blocks 67 to 73
within World Reference System-2 path 21.
Image credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team.
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