Sea Surface Height and Hurricane Rita (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Sea Surface Height and Hurricane Rita

Caption

This is an image of sea surface height measurements from NASA's Topex/Poseidon and Jason satellites, during Hurricane Rita's trek in the Gulf of Mexico in Sept. 2005. This image shows ocean circulation patterns. Florida (right) and Texas and Mexico (left) are colored in gray. Red indicates strong circulation of warm waters. Sea surface height is a useful measure of potential hurricane activity because storm-fueling warm water is higher than surrounding cooler water. The area shown in red is approximately 35 to 60 centimeters (roughly 13 to 23 inches) higher than the surrounding Gulf.

Credit

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Colorado CCAR

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