Current Methods of Tropical Cyclone Analysis using Microwave Imagery and Data

This paper provides insight into various methods and techniques using satellite-based microwave imagery and data when analyzing tropical cyclone intensities and positions in near real-time. With the loss of the QuikSCAT scatterometer and the AMSR-E microwave imager, forecasters are in need of more reliable techniques more than ever. Although many of these techniques have been available for many years, forecasters still seem reluctant to use them without more substantial proof of their reliability. This leaves operational tropical cyclone forecasters outside the Atlantic basin with a dependence on the Dvorak technique despite its many documented weaknesses and the need for a very long learning curve. This paper hopes to show how these other techniques can better supplement the Dvorak analysis, especially in those poorer areas of reliability. Some comparisons are presented between simultaneous aircraft reconnaissance data and other near real-time measurements. In addition, the use of the combined Oceansat-2 (OSCAT) and Advanced (ASCAT) scatterometer suite are shown in combined with both traditional IR/VIS data and the many varieties of microwave imagery to give a more reliable analysis than from using any one particular data source.