The wind vectors derived from SeaWinds observations are objectively interpolated to give a synoptic view at midnight of Greenwich Mean Time. Monsoon Wind and Flood Index Three-day average vector winds over ocean and flood indexes over land derived from observations by SeaWinds on QuikSCAT, for four consecutive months in 1999 are shown. Topographic map for areas over 50-m elevation is plotted over flood indexes. Scatterometers are capable of monitoring not only the ocean winds, which feed moisture, but the consequent flooding of the land. In situ observations over the ocean are extremely sparse during a hurricane, andconventional satellite data only provide cloud imagery at the top of the storm.
Hurricanes are devastating when they are accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain.
The TIW were best observed by radiometers on geostationary satellites as meanders of the temperature front between the cold upwelling water of the Pacific equatorial cold tongue and the warm water to the north. The waves propagate westward, with period of approximately 30 days.