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The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured this image of Typhoon Dujuan just after it had brushed the southern tip of Taiwan where it was responsible for 2 fatalities. The image was taken at 22:33 UTC on the 1st of September, 2003. At the time Dujuan was still classified as a powerful Category 4 storm with winds estimated at near 135 mph and was moving west-north-west towards the coast of China. The image gives a top down view of the storm. Rainfall rates from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) are overlaid on TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS) data (white areas). It shows that all of the deep convection and heavy rain rates (darker red areas) that are responsible for providing the heat energy needed to the fuel the storm are present only in the outer rain bands on the south and east sides of the storm. Subsequently, Dujuan began to weaken as it approached the coast of China.

Precipitation Radar Vertical Slice from The WEST (click to Enlarge)

Precipitation Radar Vertical Slice from The Southeast (click to Enlarge)

TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency NASDA.

Images produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC).