Satellite images show Typhoon Amphan's landfall in India, Bangladesh

NASA's Aqua satellite captured this view of Typhoon Amphan on May 20, 2020 at 1 p.m. India Standard Time (0730 GMT). (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Joshua Stevens/MODIS/NASA EOSDIS/LANCE/GIBS/Worldview)

Satellites are keeping a careful watch on Typhoon Amphan during and after landfall near eastern India and Bangladesh Wednesday (May 20).

An instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite took a natural-color image of the storm covering the region as winds reached a category 2 scale, with speeds of 105 miles (165 kilometers) per hour. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) showed the storm as it delivered a dangerous surge to coastal regions.

"Winds decreased as Amphan moved north-northeast over land, but the storm remained powerful enough to destroy buildings, uproot trees and crops, and down powerlines," NASA's Earth Observatory said in an accompanying statement. 

Related: NASA's Earth observing system: Monitoring the planet's climate

On May 20, 2020 at 3:30 a.m. EDT (0730 GMT), the MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite found coldest cloud top temperatures (yellow) in a large area around Amphan's center of circulation and along the coast of northeast India. It was as cold as or colder than minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 62.2 Celsius). (Image credit: NASA/NRL)

"The winds pushed up a 5-meter (16-foot) storm surge that flooded coastal areas, including the Sundarbans, an area of mangrove forests and critical tiger habitat in the delta spanning the India-Bangladesh border," NASA officials said in the statement.

MODIS has also provided infrared imagery showing cloud top temperatures of the tropical storm. The advantage of infrared data is, in a tropical storm that can span thousands of miles, the data shows where the strongest regional thunderstorms are located. 

The strongest thunderstorms, NASA added, have the coldest cloud top temperatures because these storms push high into the troposphere, or region of Earth's atmosphere that is closest to the planet's surface.

The Suomi NPP satellite provided this visible-light image of Typhoon Amphan headed toward landfall near the border of eastern India and Bangladesh on May 20, 2020. (Image credit: NASA Worldview/EOSDIS)

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite, which is administered by NASA and NOAA, showed visible light imagery of Amphan on Tuesday (May 19), when the storm covered the northern part of the Bay of Bengal. The bay is in the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by India to the west, Bangladesh to the north, and Myanmar to the east.

"Tropical cyclones and hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth," NASA said in a separate statement. "NASA researches these storms to determine how they rapidly intensify, develop and behave. NASA's expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting," the statement added.

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Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace