Observing Guidance for Tropical Cyclones
Abstract
Tropical cyclones (TCs), including hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons in the Western Pacific, are of great military and civilian interest around the world. In order to improve the prediction of TC intensity, structure, and track, THe Observing-system Research and Predictability EXperiment (THORPEX) Pacific Asian Regional Campaign (T-PARC)/Office of Naval Research (ONR) Tropical Cyclone Structure-08 (TCS-08) field campaign was conducted during August and September 2008. The international campaign, with nine participating nations, aimed to observe TCs and their environment throughout their lifecycle. To accomplish this, four aircraft stationed in Guam, Japan, and Taiwan flew a total of 76 missions (including 21 missions by the NRL P-3), during which 1149 vertical soundings of atmospheric data were taken via instruments dropped from the aircraft. In addition, 223 soundings were taken from instruments dropped from high-altitude balloons drifting westward from their launch site in Hawaii. These atmospheric observations were subsequently ingested into operational weather prediction systems to improve real-time TC forecasts. For the first time ever, the number of these special observations taken in the Western Pacific was similar to the number of special observations taken to improve hurricane forecasts in the Atlantic.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA524920
Entities
People
- C. A. Reynolds
- C. Amerault
- Hongyue Jin
- James D. Doyle
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory