A Moonlit View of Super Typhoon Trami from the ISS

Last week, crew members onboard the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) captured a rare view—a super typhoon illuminated by the full moon. The striking images of category 5 Super Typhoon Trami as it made its way across the Western Pacific basin were taken as part of the Cyclone Intensity Measurements from the ISS (CyMISS) project by Visidyne, Inc.

Using images of tropical cyclones (also called hurricanes or typhoons) taken from the space station, the CyMISS team is able to make highly-accurate measurements of the eyewall clouds, the most intense area of a tropical storm just outside the eye. Higher-accuracy eyewall cloud measurements could lead to improved predictions of the intensity and path of tropical cyclones before they hit land, giving communities more time to prepare for these devastating storms, which cause an estimated 10,000 deaths and $26 billion in property damage worldwide each year.

Learn more about the CyMISS project in the Upward feature “Tropical Cyclone in Sight: Tracking Hurricanes & Typhoons From Space.”