THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES OF TROPICAL CYCLONES OBSERVED BY MULTIPLE RADARS

The WSR-88D radar network along the US coastlines offers opportunities to observe the three-dimensional dynamical and hydrological structures of tropical cyclones when they approach to landfall. These high-resolution, three-dimensional structures provide very important information for tropical cyclone studies and for the prediction of flooding and storm surge right before, during and after landfall as well. At the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), algorithms have been developed to retrieve, from the observations of radar radial velocity and reflectivity, the three-dimensional winds and rainbands structures of a hurricane covered by a plurality of radars. These algorithms are being tested with several hurricanes, including Katrina. In this paper, results from our recent tests that show some interesting features of hurricane eyewall and rainbands will be presented with an expectation that this study will lead to better understanding of tropical cyclone development and therefore improved prediction of these storms.