Estimating Surface Wind Fields in Tropical Cyclones Using Infrared Satellite Imagery

Satellites can be used to observe the wind field in a tropical cyclone's outer-core and external environment. Inner core winds, however, are generally limited to aircraft measurements and other coincidental in situ data. We will present an algorithm that uses geostationary IR imagery to skillfully estimate the inner-core TC wind field and can serve as a surrogate for aircraft data when it is not available. The method involves linearly regressing IR imagery-based principle components along with other real-time track information against aircraft-measured wind data. This talk will focus on the method's skill in calculating critical wind radii and on some possible applications of the winds.