IBTrACS: Status and planned improvements

The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) is a collection of global best track data for tropical cyclones. Annual updates of the dataset began in 2008 and since then have expanded to support users in numerous areas. User feedback to the IBTrACS team supports expanding the product in two new areas: wind radii and more frequent (i.e., regular) updates. The wind radii are already best tracked by various agencies, but are not provided in the same way. The differences in the approaches between the agencies are detrimental to users. This study will look at potential solutions that describe the wind radii of a system in a uniform way. Secondly, we will describe plans to expand the provision of preliminary best track on a regular basis (e.g., monthly). Such provision would contribute to climate monitoring and other areas that require routine updates. The preliminary data would be replaced by re-analyzed best track data when it becomes available. The presentation will also highlight the results of the IBTrACS workshop in February 2016.