Investigations of a convective burst in intensifying tropical storm Gert during TCSP

The rich datasets collected by the NOAA and NASA research aircraft, and satellite data during NASA's Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes experiment will be used to investigate the structure, evolution and thermodynamics of a convective burst in the intensification of Tropical Storm Gert. The NASA ER-2 high altitude research aircraft and the NOAA P3 turboprop flew coordinated missions on three consecutive days during the genesis, spinup and landfall of this tropical storm, which developed in the vicinity of the Yucatan Peninsula. These missions provide a rare opportunity to intensively sample the complete lifecycle of a modest tropical cyclone. A convective burst flight sampling module was specifically flown during the intensification phase of the storm. The research will shed light on the role of the ocean layer and deep convection in triggering and sustaining the burst, and the feedback of the burst on the storm-scale thermodynamic and kinematic fields.