Extended Abstract (628K)P1.55
Eyewall boundary layer structure in Hurricanes Fabian and Isabel
Peter G. Black, NOAA/AOML/HRD, Miami, FL; and E. W. Uhlhorn, J. F. Gamache, W. D. Ramstrom, K. Emanuel, D. Esteban Fernandez, J. Carswell, and P. Chang
A variety of unique boundary layer structures were observed during the high radial resolution deployment of GPS dropsondes during the CBLAST experiment in Hurricanes Fabian and Isabel. Approximately 300 sondes were deployed into the hurricane eyewall region in each of 4 storm quadrants from two WP-3D aircraft on six flight days. The sonde observations are supplemented with continuous wind profiles through the eyewall derived from the UMASS Imaging Wind and Rain Atmospheric Profiler (IWRAP) and the WP-3D tail Doppler radar. Examples of the radial profiles of wind and thermodynamic variables illustrates many interesting eyewall boundary layer phenomena such as multiple low level wind maxima that are radially consistent. Two types of low level wind maxima are identified: 1) a persistent dominant maximum above the top of the constant theta, well-mixed layer and 2) one or more transient secondary wind maximum within the boundary layer. A schematic representation of the three-dimensional eyewall flows that might be associated with these observations is shown.
Poster Session 1, Posters
Wednesday, 5 May 2004, 1:30 PM-1:30 PM, Richelieu Room
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