The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) and Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) that will be available on the next generation NOAA polar-orbiting satellite systems will provide temperature and moisture soundings with higher vertical and horizontal resolution relative to those from current operational sounders. These data will provide new opportunities for analysis and forecasting of tropical cyclones. The use of these the temperature and moisture soundings to improve operational tropical cyclone intensity and wind structure estimation techniques will be described. These techniques currently use profiles from the Advanced Microwave Sounder Unit (AMSU) in combination with hydrostatic and dynamical balance constraints provide input parameters (i.e., predictors) that are used to statistically estimate the maximum wind and radial profiles of wind speed. The current techniques are limited by the course horizontal resolution of the cross-track AMSU-A instrument ( 50- 120 km).The new sounders have substantially higher spectral and horizontal resolution and provide accurate thermodynamic profiles in tropical cyclone environments, which can be used to improve statistically-based intensity forecast methods through new predictors. More accurate environmental thermodynamic conditions will also allow for more accurate estimates of the maximum potential intensity. These new applications will be described. Preliminary results based on AMSU data will also be presented.

The views, opinions and findings in this report are those of the author and should not be construed as an official NOAA or U.S. Government position, policy or decision.