Tracking Hurricanes from Space

Chart the path of hurricanes from satellite images. Analyze the imagery using image processing software to discover tropical cyclone characteristics. Discover the weather patterns of a major storm and predict the direction and damage possible from a tropical cyclone. Apply these skills to current, or recent, severe storms with your research team. Update to include Hurricane Maria thatr swept over Puerto Rico as a Category 5 in September 2017.<

Relevant Disciplines:Chemistry
Earth & Space Science
Physics
Grade Level:7-12
Adaptable to Other Grades:No
Time Required (class periods):1-3
Prerequisites:Basic ImageJ skills (optional)
Additional Resources Available:Yes

Next Generation Science Standards addressed in this lesson:
    MS-PS4-3     MS-ESS2-5     MS-ESS3-2     HS-PS4-2     HS-ESS2-2     HS-ESS3-1



Lesson Resources for Tracking Hurricanes from Space
File Type/LinkDescription
Animated gif Katia_Stack_HUIR.gif - Stacked images of Hurricane Katia for use with ImageJ, 14.3 MB
Image-gif Dry_Line.gif - GOES satellite image showing dry line, 172 KB
Image-png Emilia.png - GOES satellite image of Eastern Pacific showing Hurricanes Daniel and Emilia, Tropical Storm Fabio, 810 KB
Animated gif Maria_Stack_HUIR.gif - Stacked images of Hurricane Maira for use with ImageJ, 7.0 MB
Document-text Katia_Data.txt - Hurricane Katia data in text file format, 2 KB
Image-tif Track_Chart.tif - Hurricane tracking chart from NOAA, 528 KB
Zip Archive Resources.zip - Zipped archive containing all 6 image and data files above, 21.6 MB
Zip Archive Maria-296.zip - Zipped archive containing 296-slice animated GIF stack of Hurricane Maria & data file for use with ImageJ, 55.0 MB
Zip Archive Maria-150.zip - Zipped archive containing 150-slice animated GIF stack of Hurricane Maria & data file for use with ImageJ, 27.8 MB
Zip Archive Maria-38.zip - Zipped archive containing 38-slice animated GIF stack of Hurricane Maria & data file for use with ImageJ, 6.8 MB