During the past four years, the Texas Tech University Wind Science and Engineering Center has been involved in the Wind Engineering Mobile Instrumented Tower Experiment (WEMITE). The purpose of the experiment is to gather high-resolution meteorological data--including wind speed and direction, temperature, relative humidity, and pressure--from within the planetary boundary layer of landfalling hurricanes along the United States coastline. To date WEMITE has gathered records for Tropical Storm Charlie, Hurricanes Bonnie, Earl and George of 1998, Hurricanes Bret, Dennis and Floyd of 1999, Tropical Storm Gordon of 2000, and Tropical Storm Gabrielle and Hurricane Michelle of 2001.

Once the data are collected, various turbulent characteristics of the wind are calculated and other aspects of the hurricane are examined. Of particular interest in this study are the hurricane scale fluctuations of the meteorological parameters. Since reliable surface observations near the locations of landfalling hurricanes are quite rare due to power and/or instrumentation failure, these data provide a unique look into the structure of the captured storms.

The WEMITE data and supplemental data gathered by the National Weather Service, buoys, Coastal Marine Automated Network (C-MAN) stations, dropsondes and hurricane hunter observations are assembled and analyzed through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The observed meteorological profiles are presented and the results are compared and contrasted with previously developed models. Furthermore, nearby Next Generation Weather Surveillance Radar (NEXRAD WSR-88D) data are used to identify and examine rainbands found within the hurricanes of interest. The meteorological data in and around these rainbands are then inspected, and the results are displayed. In conclusion, these near-surface landfalling rainband data are then compared to the established hurricane rainband models, primarily derived from flight-level data over the ocean, in order to test their validity.