Three years of tropical cyclone synoptic surveillance in the Atlantic basin

Since 1997, NOAA has performed more than 50 synoptic surveillance missions in the core and environments of tropical cyclones threatening the United States mainland, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands with their G-IV and P3 aircraft. GPS dropwindsonde observations are taken approximately every 250 km along the flight tracks and sent to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the National Hurricane Center for incorporation in numerical guidance and for subjective evaluation. The impact of these data on both track and intensity forecasts will be presented.

Since small differences in initial conditions are known to grow in the numerical models at different rates, targeting the fastest growing modes has been studied. Results of such targeting, including methods to find target locations and sampling strategies, will be presented.