Sea Surface Temperature and Hurricane Bonnie
	Testing the Waters		One of the major stumbling blocks for forecasters has been the precise measurement of sea surface temperatures under a storm as it forms and evolves over time. In this scene, clouds (acquired by GOES) have been made translucent to allow an unobstructed view of the surface. Notice Hurricane Bonnie approaching the Carolina Coast (upper left) and Hurricane Danielle following roughly in its path (lower right). The ocean surface has been falsely colored to show a map of water temperature, measured by the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). Dark blues are around 75°F, light blues are about 80°F, greens are about 85°F, and yellows are roughly 90°F. In the animation, notice that as Hurricane Danielle followed in Bonnie's path, the wind speed of the second storm dropped markedly, as available energy to fuel the storm dropped off because the surface waters in Bonnie's wake were cooler. But when Danielle left Bonnie's wake, wind speeds increased due to temperature increases in surface water around the storm. view animation (6MB) Image courtesy TRMM Project, Remote Sensing Systems, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio