Rainfall from Philippine Typhoons - 颱風討論

[NASA / Earth Observatory]

Image of the day: December 5, 2009

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/41000/41497/philippines_
mpa_2009.png

(acquired May 2, 2009 - November 2, 2009; http://tinyurl.com/yhmyxeb)


Living on an island in the balmy tropics of the western Pacific, the
residents of the Philippines are accustomed to tropical storms. The storms
can form at any time of the year, and they frequently impact the island
nation as they track west across the Pacific. This image illustrates how
much rain the Philippines received from tropical cyclones between May and
October in 2009. In that period, 12 named storms poured heavy rain over
the Philippines. Two storms, Ketsana and Parma, brought unusually heavy
flood-inducing rain within a two-week span at the end of September and
early October. The two storms alone left at least 460 people dead.

Only the rain that fell when each of the 12 the storms were active is
included in the image. The heaviest rainfall, in excess of 2000 milli-
meters (80 inches), is shown in dark blue. The highest rainfall totals are
over Luzon and the ocean immediately around the island. The season started
in May with Typhoons Kujira and Chan Hom. June brought Typhoon Linfa and
Tropical Storm Nangka. July saw Tropical Storm Soudelor and Typhoon Molave.
Tropical Depression Mujigae and Typhoons Koppu, Ketsana and Parma came in
quick succession in September and early October, the most destructive part
of the 2009 cyclone season. Late October and early November brought
Typhoons Lupit and Mirinae.

The data used to make this image came from the Multisatellite Precipitation
Analysis, which calibrates rainfall estimates from many satellites using
rainfall measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)
satellite. TRMM was launched in 1997, and it carries the first space-based
precipitation radar.


http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=41497


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