Intercalibration of Aircraft Wind Observations to Statistically Consistent 1-minute Sustained Winds

Aircraft data serve a critical role in the analysis and forecasting of tropical cyclone (TC) intensity and structure. They provide the most direct and accurate observations in the storm environment and are used routinely by forecasters at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to analyze the intensity and structure of TCs and are assimilated into numerical forecast models. Due to the importance of these data, it is crucial that the data they measure are fully understood. This presentation will discuss the preliminary results of the intercomparison of the various wind speed data obtained by the hurricane hunter aircraft (flight-level, Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SFMR), tail-Doppler radar (TDR), and dropsondes) along with buoys. The ultimate goal of this project is to determine how the wind speeds from each of these aircraft-based instruments can be adjusted to a 1-minute sustained wind with natural variability that matches a standard. This is a key topic that needs to be addressed to ensure proper use of the data since the analyses of TC intensity and structure at NHC requires statistically consistent 1-minute sustained winds and this project aims to do that. Each of these instruments uses a different technique for estimating the wind speed, which needs to be accounted for to interpret the data in terms of 1-minute sustained winds.