Observational tests of hurricane intensity estimations using GPS radio occultations
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Emanuel_Observational tests.pdf
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Author(s)
Vergados, Panagiotis
Luo, Zhengzhao Johnny
Mannucci, Anthony J.
Emanuel, Kerry Andrew
Date Issued
February 2014
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Citation
Vergados, Panagiotis, Zhengzhao Johnny Luo, Kerry Emanuel, and Anthony J. Mannucci. “Observational Tests of Hurricane Intensity Estimations Using GPS Radio Occultations.” J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 119, no. 4 (February 25, 2014): 1936–1948. © 2014 American Geophysical Union
Version
Final published version
Abstract
This study presents a novel approach to estimating the intensity of hurricanes using temperature profiles from Global Positioning System radio occultation (GPSRO) measurements. Previous research has shown that the temperature difference between the ocean surface and the eyewall outflow region defines hurricanes' thermodynamic efficiency, which is directly proportional to the storm's intensity. Outflow temperatures in the eyewall region of 27 hurricanes in 2004–2011 were obtained from GPSRO observations. These observations, along with ocean surface temperatures from NASA Modern Era-Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, made it possible to estimate hurricane intensities using a simplified hurricane model. Our preliminary results are quantitatively consistent with best-track values from the National Hurricane Center within 9.4%. As a by-product of our study, we present for the first time GPSRO vertical temperature profiles in the vicinity of the eyewall region of hurricanes, which we compared with collocated temperature profiles from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis Interim (ERA-Interim). Some of the GPSRO data sets reveal a double tropopause in the vicinity of the eyewall—a characteristic that we do not see in ERA-Interim. We conclude that GPSRO observations can be of supplementary assistance in augmenting existing data sets used in hurricane intensity estimation. GPSROs' cloud-penetrating capability and high vertical resolution can be useful in providing soundings in the area close to the eyewall region of hurricanes revealing detailed information about their thermal structure, potentially advancing our current knowledge of their dynamics, evolution, and physics.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1002/2013jd020934
