The Hurricane Rainband and Intensity Change Experiment: Observations and Modeling of Hurricanes Katrina, Ophelia, and Rita

Abstract

The Hurricane Rainband and Intensity Change Experiment (RAINEX) used three P3 aircraft aided by high-resolution numerical modeling and satellite communications to investigate the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina, Ophelia, and Rita. The aim was to increase the understanding of tropical cyclone intensity change by interactions between a tropical cyclone's inner core and rainbands. All three aircraft had dual-Doppler radars, with the Electra Doppler Radar (ELDORA) on board the Naval Research Laboratory's P3 aircraft, providing particularly detailed Doppler radar data. Numerical model forecasts helped plan the aircraft missions, and innovative communications and data transfer in real time allowed the flights to be coordinated from a ground-based operations center. The P3 aircraft released approximately 600 dropsondes in locations targeted for optimal coordination with the Doppler radar data, as guided by the operations center. The storms were observed in all stages of development, from tropical depression to category 5 hurricane. The data from RAINEX are readily available through an online Field Catalog and RAINEX Data Archive. The RAINEX dataset is illustrated in this article by a preliminary analysis of Hurricane Rita, which was documented by multiaircraft flights on five days 1) while a tropical storm, 2) while rapidly intensifying to a category 5 hurricane, 3) during an eye-wall replacement, 4) when the hurricane became asymmetric upon encountering environmental shear, and 5) just prior to landfall.

GHOST: A Satellite Mission Concept for Persistent Monitoring of Stratospheric Gravity Waves Induced by Severe Storms

“…In addition to the land-based radar, the NOAA Hurricane Research Division collects radar datasets on most TCs they penetrate. Data collected by the NOAA P3 aircraft sensors, which measure precipitation and winds from 0.5-to 18-km altitude at 150-m range resolution in hurricanes within the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and off the U.S. Atlantic coast, would meet the requirements on rain-rate observations (e.g., Houze et al 2006).…”

Improving Hurricane Intensity Forecasting through Data Assimilation: Environmental Conditions Versus the Vortex Initialization

“…As mentioned above and in previous studies, accurate forecasts of TC structure and intensity changes are closely related to the storm inner-core thermal and dynamic structures and their evolution (Jordan 1961;Franklin et al, 1988;Kossin & Eastin, 2001;Houze et al, 2006;Rogers et al, 2006). Unfortunately, most available satellite data over the TC inner-core region are contaminated by heavy precipitation.…”

“…According to reports from Rogers et al (2006) and the National Hurricane Center (NHC, http:/ / www.nhc.noaa.gov/ verification), the official 48 h TC track forecast error has been reduced by 45% in the past 15 years, while the intensity forecast error has decreased by only 17%. The rapid intensification of TCs has been especially poorly predicted (Titley & Elsberry, 2000;Houze et al, 2006). The lack of skill in numerical forecasts of TC intensity can be attributed to three factors : 1) inaccurate initial conditions in the storm vortex and environment in numerical models; 2) limitations in numerical models such as imperfect physical parameterizations; and 3) inadequate understanding of the physics of TCs and their development.…”

The next generation airborne polarimetric Doppler weather radar

“…The batch script can reduce the editing time tenfold (i.e., from months to days) making the post analysis of airborne Doppler radar much more efficient for even novice users. The algorithm could be run in near-real time during a research flight to aid a mission scientist in making decisions about where to next send the aircraft (Houze et al, 2006), or be used to prepare airborne radar data for assimilation into numerical weather prediction models (Zhang et al, 2012). The automatically pre-processed data can also serve as a useful starting point for further interactive editing for detailed case studies in post analysis mode (Schmitz, 2010).…”