Observations of surface and flight level winds along with airborne radar video for six typhoons during two-month periods in 2008 and 2010 were made by WC-130J Hurricane Hunter aircraft. These observations are compared with the satellite-based scattermeter, microwave imagers, visible and, in one case, with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Structure features related to intensity changes associated with underlying ocean eddy structures were documented especially well in Super-Typhoons Jangmi (2008) and Megi (2010). Time series of satellite microwave images in Jangmi show concentric eyewall formation during rapid intensification and a drying and dramatic decrease in convective band activity just downstream form a cold eddy feature during rapid decay prior to landfall on Taiwan.

SAR and microwave images from Megi are compared with aircraft radar, dropsonde and SFMR surface winds showing extreme winds of 80 m/s associated with convectively-induced micro-vortices along the inner edge of the typhoon eyewall. These features show up as curved linear features in SAR and high resolution MODIS visible imagery and appear to be associated with extreme variability in boundary layer structure observed by dropsonde pairs deployed in four quadrants of the storm within 3 hours of the satellite observations.