Hurricane Ocean Wind Speeds

How strong does the wind blow in a hurricane? This proves a question that is difficult to answer, but has far-reaching consequences for satellite meteorology, weather forecasting and hurricane advisories. In the EUMETSAT CHEFS project, KNMI, ICM and IFREMER worked with international colleagues to address this question to prepare for the EPS-SG SCA scatterometer, which introduces C-band cross-polarization measurements to improve the detection of hurricane-force winds. To calibrate the diverse available satellite, airplane and model winds, in-situ wind speed references are needed. Unfortunately, these prove rather inconsistent in the wind speed range of 15 to 25 m/s, casting doubt on the higher winds too. Should we trust dropsondes at high and extreme winds or perhaps put more confidence inthe moored buoy references? This dilemma will be presented to initiate a discussion with the international community gathered at IGARSS ‘21.

Keyword(s)

Hurricane winds, dropsondes, moored buoys, atmospheric modelling, scatterometer, ocean vector winds, atmospheric dynamics, climate change, weather, clouds and aerosol

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Stoffelen Ad, Marseille Gert-Jan, Ni Weicheng, Mouche Alexis, Polverari Federica, Portabella Marcos, Lin Wenming, Sapp Joe, Chang Paul, Jelenak Zorana (2021). Hurricane Ocean Wind Speeds. 2021 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium IGARSS, 2021, Electronic ISBN:978-1-6654-0369-6, Electronic ISSN: 2153-7003 . pp. 1182-1185. https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS47720.2021.9554667, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00773/88494/

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