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NASA's Cassini spacecraft and a European Southern Observatory ground-based telescope are tracking the growth of a giant early-spring storm in Saturn's northern hemisphere so powerful that it stretches around the entire planet.
The rare storm has been wreaking havoc for months and shooting plumes of gas high into the planet's atmosphere.
“Nothing on Earth comes close to this powerful storm,” said Leigh Fletcher, a Cassini team scientist at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and lead author of a study that appeared in this week's edition of Science Magazine.
“A storm like this is rare,” said Fletcher. “This is only the sixth one to be recorded since 1876, and the last was way back in 1990.”
Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument first detected the large disturbance in December 2010, and amateur astronomers have been watching it ever since through backyard telescopes.
As it rapidly expanded, the storm's core developed into a giant, powerful thunderstorm, producing a 3,000-mile-wide (5,000-kilometer-wide) dark vortex possibly similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot.
This is the first major storm on Saturn observed by an orbiting spacecraft and studied at thermal infrared wavelengths.
Infrared observations are key because heat tells researchers a great deal about conditions inside the storm, including temperatures, winds, and atmospheric composition.
Temperature data were provided by the Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal in Chile and Cassini's composite infrared spectrometer (CIRS), operated by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
“Our new observations show that the storm had a major effect on the atmosphere, transporting energy and material over great distances – creating meandering jet streams and forming giant vortices – and disrupting Saturn's seasonal [weather patterns],” said Glenn Orton, a paper coauthor, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
The violence of the storm – the strongest disturbances ever detected in Saturn's stratosphere – took researchers by surprise. What started as an ordinary disturbance deep in Saturn's atmosphere punched through the planet's serene cloud cover to roil the high layer known as the stratosphere.
“On Earth, the lower stratosphere is where commercial airplanes generally fly to avoid storms which can cause turbulence,” said Brigette Hesman, a scientist at the University of Maryland in College Park who works on the CIRS team at Goddard and is the second author on the paper. “If you were flying in an airplane on Saturn, this storm would reach so high up, it would probably be impossible to avoid it.”
A separate analysis using Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, led by Kevin Baines of JPL, confirmed the storm is very violent, dredging up deep material in volumes several times larger than previous storms. Other Cassini scientists are studying the evolving storm and, they say, a more extensive picture will emerge soon.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
The mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
The European Southern Observatory in Garching, Germany operates the VLT in Chile. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Stay tuned to Science@NASA for updates.
Dr. Tony Phillips works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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The quake was recorded at 7:04 p.m. two miles south southeast of Hercules, eight miles north of Berkeley and 17 miles north northeast of San Francisco, according to the US Geological Survey.
The depth of the quake was 6 miles, US Geological Survey records showed.
The survey reported receiving 3,977 shake reports from 182 zip codes as of 2 a.m. Sunday.
Most of the reports were from around California, although one was from Graham, Wash.
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Robert Henderson “Budge” Brown Sr., 78, of Gardnerville, Nev., was reported missing by his son Wednesday evening after he failed to arrive in Tracy following a brief plane trip from Minden, Nev., as Lake County News has reported.
His son, Jeff Brown, confirmed late Friday that his father's plane was discovered by searchers earlier in the afternoon, a discovery he was notified of at around 4:30 p.m.
A body also was discovered in the wreckage, but it has yet to be positively identified, Jeff Brown said.
Budge Brown was a respected businessman and member of the wine industry, who owned wineries in Nevada and in California, including Tulip Hill Winery in Nice.
He had been expected in Tracy at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, his son said. He had flown the route hundreds of times in his 33 years as a pilot.
Sheriff's officials said there had been no emergency radio traffic received from Budge Brown and no emergency locator transmitter from his plane. Jeff Brown said his father didn't have a flight plan, which is recommended but not required.
The Amador County Sheriff's Office's Search and Rescue Nordic Team, assisted by the Civil Air Patrol and the California Highway Patrol, had conducted a search since early Thursday morning in the southeastern area of Amador County within the El Dorado National Forest, officials reported.
It was there that Brown's Lancair, composite, single engine airplane – which had been tracked by radar – had reportedly dropped from 15,000 to 12,000 feet in altitude before falling off the radar at the 11,000-foot level over the national forest.
The sheriff's office said the Civil Air Patrol had identified the search area based on analysis of radar data and experience with past aircraft accidents.
The region still has snow on the ground, with the Civil Air Patrol said presented “somewhat of a challenge” in the search for the white aircraft.
Ground and snowmobile teams, Civil Air Patrol aircraft and two CHP helicopters were involved in the search, as the area was heavily wooded and covered with 6 to 10 feet of snow, according to an Amador County Sheriff's Office report.
Civil Air Patrol flight crews flew in from Concord, Sacramento, Auburn and Redding with additional aircraft from across the state on alert to assist, and mission management and operations staff working from locations the length of the state, the agency said.
They flew a route search, which meant they were flying the entire path that the plane was to have taken from Minden and Tracy, based upon radar data and other intelligence, according to the Civil Air Patrol.
The Civil Air Patrol said that by Thursday evening four of its planes had flown more than 20 hours on five sorties to find Brown's plane.
On Friday the Civil Air Patrol reported that the search area was expanded, with several of its search aircraft looking for the missing plane in the morning.
Finally, on Friday afternoon, the plane was found. “They found it within a mile of where they thought he was down,” Jeff Brown said.
While a body was discovered inside the plane, “They haven't told me whether it's my dad or not,” Jeff Brown said.
He said authorities must still positively identify the body. They will then conduct an investigation into the reasons for the crash.
Brown's friends in the Lake County community expressed their sadness at the crash on Friday.
Lake County Winegrape Commission Executive Director Shannon Gunier called Budge Brown “a great guy” who was generous in his involvement in the community.
Wilda Shock, a member of the Lake County Wine Alliance board, said Budge Brown was the honorary chair of the 2010 Lake County Wine Auction, presented last September at Ceago Vinegarden, neighboring property to his Tulip Hill Winery.
His philanthropy and his support of cancer research were honored during the annual charity event that benefits numerous Lake County nonprofit organizations, she said.
On Budge Brown's Facebook page, “Live to love life” was listed as his favorite quotation.
Jeff Brown said it's not really sunk in yet that his father is gone.
He said he and his father were really close.
“I'm really saddened by him not being here anymore,” he said.
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Sandra Jean Burnett, 57, was booked into the Lake County Jail late Thursday night on felony charges of driving under the influence causing bodily injury and being under the influence of a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm, and misdemeanor charges of driving on a license suspended for DUI, an addict driving a vehicle and a misdemeanor probation violation, according to her booking sheet.
An initial collision report completed by California Highway Patrol Officer Nick Powell said that the crash between Burnett's 2000 Chevy Prizm and the 1994 Thomas Type 1 School Bus occurred at 2:40 p.m. Thursday on Kelsey Creek Drive south of Wight Way.
Powell's report said that Burnett was driving northbound on Kelsey Creek Drive at an unknown speed while the school bus, driven by 39-year-old Shawn Dale Rogers was driving southbound, also at an unknown rate of speed.
Burnett allegedly allowed her vehicle to drive into the school bus' path. Rogers slowed and took evasive actions but was unable to avoid hitting the Prizm head-on, according to Powell.
The crash caused major damage to the Prizm and moderate damage to the bus, Powell said.
Powell said four of the 25 grade school age children on the bus complained of pain but were not transported to the hospital.
Rogers was uninjured, while Burnett reportedly suffered minor injuries, with abrasions to her left elbow and left hand, Powell reported.
Burnett was allegedly under the influence of prescription medication and subsequently arrested, Powell said.
During interviews on Thursday with Lake County News, Kelseyville Unified School District officials had credited Rogers for his response to the situation, as well as other school transportation staff who helped respond.
The bus in question is to remain out of service until fully repaired, but all bus routes were covered on Friday, according to Kyle Reams, the district's director of maintenance and transportation.
Burnett's bail was set at $150,000 on the charge of DUI causing great bodily injury, but the alleged probation violation resulted in a no-bail hold, according to jail records.
As a result, jail records showed that Burnett remained in custody on Friday.
Her booking document indicated that she is to appear in Lake County Superior Court for arraignment on Monday, May 23.
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A 79-year-old man, whose name was not immediately available, reportedly fell asleep at the wheel of his 2009 Ford Focus while driving eastbound along Highway 20 just west of Pepperwood Cove, according to reports from the scene.
The vehicle went off the highway and into the lake and was partially submerged, with the man trapped.
A passing motorist, Amy Goszulak-Zingone, dove into the water and pulled the man from the sinking car, according to an account she shared on the Lake County News Facebook page.
She reported that the man was shaken up but OK.
When dubbed a hero by other readers on the Facebook page, she said, “I don't feel like a hero. I didn't have time to think about anything; I was on auto pilot! I'm just glad he is okay!”
She said the man asked her how he could ever repay her for saving his life. “I told him if he wanted to repay me, he needs to pay it forward. Help someone else who needs it, just like I did,” she said.
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On Wednesday afternoon, Robert “Budge” Brown, 78, was supposed to meet his son, Jeff Brown, in Tracy, Calif., but when he didn't arrive by early evening Jeff Brown said he alerted authorities and the search began.
Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration's Pacific Division, said that the plane Brown was reported to have been flying, a Lancair Legacy with the tail number N121J, departed around 4 p.m. Wednesday from Minden, Nev., for a private airstrip near Tracy.
“The pilot was not communicating with, or being tracked by, air traffic controllers,” Gregor said.
Gregor said the FAA received the information about the overdue at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Brown was reported to be the only person on board the plane, according to his family and the FAA report.
Jeff Brown said the search is focusing on the Bear River Reservoir area off of Highway 88 near Placerville and above Jackson.
He described the search area as very rugged and densely forested, with a significant amount of snow reported to be on the ground.
He said it's “not a place you want to go down in an airplane, for sure.”
Jeff Brown said that he had spoken to his father early on Wednesday afternoon. His father wanted to have dinner with him that evening, and was excited to be leaving for a trip to Mexico with a friend the next day.
He asked his son – also a pilot – about the weather conditions. “He said that he was going to wait for some weather to clear in the Minden area and that he'd probably leave around 4 p.m. and he'd see me about 4:30 p.m.,” Jeff Brown said.
However, by 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jeff Brown said he began calling his father's friends to find out if anyone had seen him. “What worried me is he didn't call the people he normally calls.”
When it became clear no one had seen Budge Brown, the authorities were called. On Thursday morning the Civil Air Patrol and the Amador County Sheriff's Office initiated a search by air and ground, Jeff Brown said.
It appeared that Budge Brown wasn't on any kind of a flight plan, which isn't required although is strongly recommended, his son explained.
He said his father had made the same trip hundreds of times since he learned to fly in 1978.
Jeff Brown said a forensics specialist worked to try to track a radar signal believed to have been from Budge Brown's plane.
They found an airplane flying on a commonly followed course from Minden to Tracy, he said.
“Based on radar returns, it looked like the plane started deviating somewhat and then descending in altitude at a pretty rapid rate,” Jeff Brown said.
Based on that information, Jeff Brown said authorities identified the area where they believed the plane had gone down and started the search, after checking on whether he could have landed at any of the airports along the way.
“I believe the search is going to continue on for several more days,” Jeff Brown said.
He added, “We're really confident something will happen today.”
He said he and his family are hoping that the search can continue until his father is found.
Jeff Brown said his father loved airplanes and flying. “He was always trying to be better,” and had become an accomplished pilot in his 33 years of flying, his son said.
The Brown family also been active in the wine industry in other parts of California and in Nevada.
Shannon Gunier, executive director of the Lake County Winegrape Commission, said she was heartbroken at the news about Budge Brown, who she called “a great guy.”
The Brown family has been active in Lake County's wine industry, where in 2003 they purchased and began renovating the the old Vittel water bottling facility on the outskirts of Nice.
Gunier said she and her husband, Rick, worked with the Browns on locating at the facility. She'd also ridden with Budge Brown in his plane.
“We were just so excited to have him invest in Lake County,” she said.
Under the Brown family's guidance the Vittel facility, once used to bottle water from Bartlett Springs, was transformed into the Tulip Hill Winery, which – true to its name – is festooned each spring by a multicolored carpet of tulips.
“We've tried really hard to be active in the community,” said Jeff Brown, who grows some of the grapes used for the company's wines in Tracy.
Gunier said the Browns had indeed been great supporters of the county, and she was hopeful that there might be a happy ending to the search.
Budge Brown also has been noted for his philanthropy.
In 2005, following the death of his wife of 48 years, Arlene, who lost a battle with cancer, he founded Cleavage Creek Wines, based in Napa, which raises money for cancer research.
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