GRIP observations with HAMSR of the rapidly intensifying Hurricane Karl

The High Altitude MMIC Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR) is a 25-channel microwave sounder that flew on the Global Hawk UAV during the GRIP hurricane field campaign in 2010. An interesting case is Hurricane Karl, which was surveyed with the Global Hawk for a 13-hour period while rapidly intensifying from Category 1 to Category 3. The Global Hawk flight included 20 consecutive passes over the eye of Karl, and that has resulted in an unprecedented time series during this RI event. The HAMSR observations provide a picture of both the thermodynamic and convective structure in the inner core region. In the absence of precipitation it is possible to estimate temperature and water vapor profiles using a retrieval method based on optimal estimation, and in the presence of precipitation it is possible to estimate reflectivity profiles and microphysical properties using an empirical algorithm. We will show analysis of Karl's warm core anomaly and convective structure during the rapid intensification.