Observations of the Inner-Core Structure of Rapidly Intensifying Tropical Cyclones

Composites of the inner-core kinematic and thermodynamic structure of tropical cyclones undergoing rapid intensification are presented here. These composites are calculated from airborne Doppler and GPS dropsonde measurements from a multitude of cases flown by the NOAA Hurricane Research Division over the past two decades. Symmetric structures of tangential wind, vertical vorticity and inertial stability are calculated, as well as asymmetric measures such as vortex tilt and low-wavenumber reflectivity, vertical velocity, and vorticity. Boundary-layer kinematic and thermodynamic properties, such as radial wind, inflow depth, and equivalent potential temperature, and statistics of convective-scale properties such as vertical velocity and vorticity, are also presented. If time permits, comparisons of the inner-core structure of tropical cyclones undergoing rapid intensification with those that remain steady-state are presented as well. Implications of these results with respect to current hypotheses regarding rapid intensification are discussed.