"For remote sensing experts, getting a glimpse of the eye of a hurricane or typhoon with CloudSat is like a golfer hitting a hole in one," according to NASA's Earth Observatory, and that is exactly what CloudSat did.
On May 16 at 2:07 p.m. local time, CloudSat passed over Typhoon Dolphin as the category 4 storm churned across the west Pacific. "CloudSat passed directly over the eye, allowing a view of the outward sloping eyewall, the intense convection and rainfall, and the storm's cloud structure," according to NASA. "Typhoon Dolphin's clouds reached about 15 kilometers (9 miles) altitude at their highest point-fairly high for a tropical cyclone."
CloudSat is part of NASA's Earth-orbiting observatory. Pulses of microwave energy are sent through the atmosphere and some gets reflected back to the satellite. The data reveals how much ice and rain are present.
