Initialization of a hurricane vortex

An inverse dynamical/ thermodynamical method for the construction of the initial hurricane is proposed here. This study entails a description of this inverse problem where given a prescribed tangential velocity field, one sequentially constructs the vertical velocity, meridional wind, geopotential height, temperature, moisture distribution, and heat sources and sinks of a hurricane.

This is a powerful procedure for describing the inner rain area (eye wall and rain bands) of a hurricane. Given the solution of the hurricane, these fields are used as data sets for a global high resolution model, where these data sets are analyzed with the surrounding global data. These two data sets are merged via a multivariate optimal interpolation scheme.

This study focuses on the impact of the use (or non use) of this proposed procedure on short range (1 to 3 day) forecasts of hurricane track and intensity evolution.