(click to zoom)

(click to zoom)

The first image shows an overflight of Tropical Cyclone Manou, in the Indian Ocean, as measured by the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) satellite. The TRMM satellite was jointly built by NASA and the Japanese space agency NASDA. In this view, we see the orbital swath of the satellite cutting across Madagascar as the tropical cyclone was moving slowly southward along the east coast. The image was taken at 1814 UTC on May 8 while the storm was producing 75 knots maximum sustained wind. The outermost swath sweeps out the scanning path of the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) which is able to detect ice particles in the top of Manou's outer rainbands. The innermost swath shows rain intensity as measured by the Precipitation Radar, with red colors indicating the heaviest rain rates, in excess of several inches per hour. Note the well-defined eye and intense rains of the surrounding eyewall. The second image shows what a vertical slice through the storm would look like (greatly exaggerated in the vertical). Here, the western eyewall is located inland of the eastern coastline of Madagascar.

With the core of Manou's circulation moving along the coastline, vast amounts of rain are being deposited on the nation. The potential for serious flooding over this country is particularly high, as many of the steep mountain slopes are deforested and thus quite prone to runoff and mudslides.