Emirati astronaut <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2023/05/25/uaes-sultan-al-neyadi-surprised-with-birthday-cake-on-space-station/" target="_blank">Sultan Al Neyadi</a> has urged people due to be affected by Cyclone Biparjoy to "stay safe" after he photographed the powerful weather front from the International Space Station (ISS). The storm is growing in strength as it closes in on <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/asia/2023/06/12/biparjoy-intensifies-as-indian-residents-evacuated-ahead-of-super-cyclone-arrival/" target="_blank">India and Pakistan</a>, where it is expected to make landfall on Thursday. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2023/06/05/uae-monitoring-potential-tropical-depression-in-arabian-sea/">The National Centre of Meteorology</a> (NCM) on Monday said the Emirates would be unaffected by the cyclone, which formed in the Arabian Sea. Cyclone Biparjoy, named by Bangladesh and meaning "destruction", is scheduled to arrive in the Indian state of Gujarat on Thursday, with authorities in India and Pakistan now evacuating low-lying areas. "Watch as a tropical cyclone forms over the Arabian Sea from these views I captured," Dr Al Neyadi tweeted on Tuesday. "The ISS provides a unique perspective on several natural phenomena, which can assist experts on Earth in weather monitoring. Stay safe, everyone!" On Tuesday, the NCM said the cyclone was centred in the eastern Arabian sea, with wind speeds of up to 155kph. Astronauts in space are often asked to take footage of weather phenomenon, so meteorologists on ground can better track them. In 2021, ISS astronauts posted photos of a volcano eruption on La Palma, one of the Spanish Canary Islands. The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on September 19 that year and its red-hot lava reached the Atlantic Ocean. The astronauts also monitored wildfires burning across California and Nevada in the western US in 2021. The so-called Caldor fire had been active for about 10 weeks and reached Lake Tahoe, destroying some of the world’s oldest trees in the process. In 2006, astronaut Jeff Williams spotted ash emerging from the Cleveland Volcano in Alaska and reported the activity to the US state's volcanic observatory. He captured images of an ash cloud rising 6,000 metres above sea level.
