I found this thermograph in a church newsletter. It shows the path of this past springs tornado through Joplin, MO. I don't know who took the thermograph or just when it was taken. I don't even know if it was shot from the air or from space - but I did find it interesting. I am no weather expert and was curious as to what caused the heat signiture. Can somebody shed some light on this for me? Thnnks.
Is it actually an infrared image? I wonder what could cause that... I suppose a tornado would alter surface temperatures as it travels. Maybe due to friction, pressure changes, cloud cover or perhaps it's caused by a dramatic change in the stratification of air according to its temperatures and densities. My understanding is that warm air rises. Could a tornado, perhaps, disturb the uppermost layer of air causing an increase in land surface temperature?
Ever watch water go down into a drain as it forms a "twister"? This so-called "twister" sucks up air and water from above. My thought is that a tornado may behave in the same way, funnelling warm, moist air to the surface (land).
Pretty neat anyway...
Jesse
Soon-to-be Level 2 Thermographer
I have to believe that what you are looking at is a presentation of a)pressure track of the tornado, b) level of destruction observed/estimated, or c) wind velocities observed/estimated and NOT thermal.
Jack