Image Library ADEOS-II Science Project EORC JAXA

These are images of typhoon No. 2 "KUJIRA" near the Truk Islands observed by AMSR and GLI at 00:27 UTC April 12, 2003. As of April 16, typhoon No. 2 was moving near Guam Island and gaining strength as it headed for the Philippines.

The image derived from AMSR (left) is an RGB color composite using brightness temperatures of 89.0-GHz (both vertical and horizontal polarization) and 23.8-GHz (vertical polarization) channels. Possible strong precipitation areas are highlighted by bright yellow; colors varying from aqua to dark blue correspond to increases of water vapor and clouds. A well-organized structure of precipitation related to typhoon development is shown clearly in this image.

The image derived by GLI (right) is a close-up of the region indicated as a red rectangle in the AMSR image. The thin cirrus springing forth from the center section is accompanied with cumulonimbus of the typhoon. This picture is an RGB color-composite image generated from GLI spectral channels 24 (1050nm), 8 (545nm), and 5 (460nm) with a spatial resolution of 1 km.

Since January 2000, Asian names of typhoons have been adopted using a name list proposed by each country and region in the western North Pacific and South China Sea. The name "KUJIRA" was proposed by Japan, and the meaning came from Cetus (the Whale).

» go to JMA list of names for tropical cyclones

Smoke over the Amur River and the Japan Sea

This image shows smoke over the Amur River and the Japan Sea observed by GLI on April 9, 2003. The smoke comes from fires in the river basin of the Amur River that have burned continuously since March.

This image shows smoke over the Japan Sea on April 10, 2003, more clearly than on April 9. These true-color composite images were generated by the data of GLI spectral channel 13 (678 nm; red), channel 8 (545 nm; green), and channel 5 (460 nm; blue). The colors in a true-color image resemble those seen by the human eye. An infrared channel (3.715µm) of GLI can detect high temperature at the surface. Red portions in the figure represent high temperature at the surface, which can correspond to fires.

On April 15, 2003, we started to release "Today's Images," which are near-real-time images of the Japan area observed by AMSR and GLI every day.

Typhoon "KUJIRA" captured by "Midori II" - Simultaneous observation by AMSR and GLI -

Smoke over the Amur River and the Japan Sea