Boundary Layer Recovery and Intensity Change of Hurricane Lee (2023) in Shear

This study highlights the importance of using collocated aircraft deployed expendables and saildrone uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) measurements to improve understanding of air-sea interaction in tropical cyclones. In the past, collocated ocean and atmosphere observations near the air-sea interface of a single storm mostly rely on aircraft deployed expendable probes (e.g., dropsondes and AXBTs) or buoys. USVs complement these observations by providing measurements of near-surface winds, air temperature and humidity, and sea surface temperature. A combination of dropsonde, AXBT, saildrone, and Doppler radar data was analyzed to investigate boundary-layer and convective processes in Lee (2023). Effects of enthalpy fluxes on the recovery of downdraft induced low-entropy air along inflow trajectories were examined. The results emphasize the important role of boundary layer recovery in regulation of convection distribution and intensity change.