Estimating tropical cyclone intensity with inner core rotation as observed by MISR

With high (550 m horizontal and ~200 m vertical) resolution cloud-track wind measurements, the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite can precisely determine inner-core rotation of a tropical cyclone (TC) from the center to the eyewall. Near the eyewall, TCs generally rotate faster than near the center, and have a distinct angular velocity that can be used to estimate the TC intensity. Studying a collection of MISR-observed TCs in the Atlantic (including Alberto-2000, Isabel-2003, Emily-2005, Wilma-2005, Franklin-2005), we find that the near-eyewall rotation velocity is closely related to TC intensity and, to some extent, to the size of TC eye for sizes < 10 km in diameter.