We’re used to seeing satellite tv for pc pictures of tropical storms from above the clouds, that includes the attribute white swirls across the eye of the storm. This false-colour, polarised picture from Copernicus Sentinel-1 exhibits us the floor of the ocean beneath the clouds, as seen by the satellite tv for pc’s radar instrument. The ocean situations replicate the robust winds as Hurricane Surigae passes over.
Zoom in to discover this picture at its full decision.
The picture, captured on 28 September 2026, exhibits Hurricane Surigae because it was shifting north-eastwards in an space of the Philippine Sea about 200 km south of the island of Shikoku, Japan. By 1 October, the storm, often known as Hurricane no. 26, was virtually 1000 km away, roughly 200 km south of Tokyo. It’s one in every of a number of typhoons within the Pacific Ocean in the mean time.
The comparatively calm seas on the eye of the storm are clearly seen in darkish blue on this picture. The colourful impact is created utilizing two radar polarisations, every assigned to a distinct color. The orange-yellow ring within the picture is the place the radar instrument has detected tough ocean situations and robust winds.
The lighter blue areas of the picture present the place the radar has detected a distinct form of sign and it almost certainly denotes ocean and wind situations that differ to the brilliant yellow and orange areas. A few of the doable causes are decrease wind speeds, much less sea floor motion or areas of rain.
Some brilliant yellow flecks are seen within the decrease a part of the picture. Whereas these seem like small islands, there are not any land lots in that area – they’re almost certainly to be areas of concentrated wind and rain.
When this radar picture was acquired, Hurricane Surigae had robust winds with most gusts of as much as 240 km per hour, with harmful ocean situations together with robust swells and waves reaching as much as 7 m. Since then, it has weakened significantly and is presently classed as a tropical melancholy, with most wind speeds of 55 km per hour.