Evaluation of the NOAA Gulfstream-IV Tail Doppler Radar in Tropical Cyclones

In 2009 a vertically-scanning tail Doppler radar (TDR) was installed on NOAA's Gulfstream-IV (G-IV) jet, used traditionally for surveillance of the synoptic environment surrounding tropical cyclones. Since NOAA's acceptance of the radar in the spring of 2012, radar data sets have been collected within the core region of 11 tropical cyclones at various stages of their lifecycle. We review results from an operational system evaluation of the G-IV TDR and present highlights from research flights within the tropical cyclone core region over four seasons. In its pre-implementation, the G-IV TDR was thought to provide better representation of upper-tropospheric storm structure than the NOAA P-3 TDR due to its higher-altitude and greater sensitivity. We assess this potential benefit of the G-IV TDR and suggest direction for future research and operational applications.