Start Date: End Date: Published Date Data Date
Data acquired July 8 - 8, 2002 650 x 850 110 KB - JPEG
Data acquired July 8 - 8, 2002 1300 x 1700 353 KB - JPEG
Data acquired July 8 - 8, 2002 2600 x 3400 1 MB - JPEG
Data acquired July 8 - 8, 2002 5200 x 6800 3 MB - JPEG
Super Typhoon Chataan reached Category 4 hurricane status on July 7 and 8, wabout the time this image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was captured on July 8, 2002. Chataan was located in the Pacific Ocean off the south of Japan, and the outlines of Ryukyu Islands, southwest of Japan, are visible at the top left of the image. The southernmost of those islands is Okinawa.
According to news reports, tens of thousands of people were asked to evacuate low-lying coastal areas as the storm skirted the east coast of the Japan, bringing high winds and heavy rains that produced floods and mudslides in the region, and disrupted transportation services. Typhoon Chataan was reportedly responsible for the deaths of at least 80 people in Micronesia, the Philippines, and Japan. Even as Chataan passed up the coast of Japan and moved northeast, another storm began brewing to the south. Now the country is bracing for the expected arrival of Typhoon Halong from the southeast and Tropical Storm Nakri from the south.
Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
Published August 21, 2002 Data acquired July 8 - 8, 2002