August 16, 2005 11:21 AM PDT
If there's a hurricane brewing, NASA knows about it--and has plenty to offer for weather watchers on Earth.
The space agency's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite can show hurricanes in color and three dimensions. In these two images, red indicates regions of the most significant rainfall. The spires, called "hot towers," suggest a powerful heat engine inside the storm, which signals its growth potential.
Photo by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
