Typhoon Roke came ashore in Japan this week causing considerable damage and several deaths. Beginning as a tropical depression 1370 km south of Japan in the Philippine Sea ten days previous, the storm ranged from a Category 4 to Category 1 in terms of strength before slamming into the island. It was tracked closely through the use of satellite technology that provided up-to-date results continuously, helping relief workers to prepare and plan for it's arrival.

With its array of passive microwave and active radar sensors, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite (better known as TRMM) has been a valuable tool for observing tropical cyclones around the globe. TRMM captured this image (below) of Roke as it was nearing the Japanese coast. 

"The rain rates are overlaid on visible and infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). TRMM reveals that Roke was becoming less organized as it approached Japan," said NASA. The typhoon was also closely followed by the KITAMOTO Institute for Informatics with updated warnings and information regularly. 

"At the typhoon's peak around 11 a.m. Wednesday, roughly 1.21 million people from 512,000 households had been advised to evacuate by local governments, according to a Kyodo News tally."

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