Estimation of marine winds in and around typhoons using multi-platform satellite observations: Application to Typhoon Soulik (2018)

Abstract

Estimating horizontal winds in and around typhoons is important for improved monitoring and prediction of typhoons and mitigating their damages. Here, we present a new algorithm for estimating typhoon winds using multiple satellite observations and its application to Typhoon Soulik (2018). Four kinds of satellite remote sensing data, along with their relationship to typhoon intensity, derived statistically from hundreds of historical typhoon cases, were merged into the final product of typhoon wind (MT wind): 1) geostationary-satellite-based infrared images (IR wind), 2) passive microwave sounder (MW wind), 3) feature-tracked atmospheric motion vectors, and 4) scatterometer-based sea surface winds (SSWs). The algorithm was applied to two cases (A and B) of Typhoon Soulik and validated against SSWs independently retrieved from active microwave synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and microwave radiometer (AMSR2) images, and vertical profiles of wind speed derived from reanalyzed data and dropsonde observations. For Case A (open ocean), the algorithm estimated the realistic maximum wind, radius of maximum wind, and radius of 15 m/s, which could not be estimated using the reanalysis data, demonstrating reasonable and practical estimates. However, for Case B (when the typhoon rapidly weakened just before making landfall in the Korean Peninsula), the algorithm significantly overestimated the parameters, primarily due to the overestimation of typhoon intensity. Our study highlights that realistic typhoon winds can be monitored continuously in real-time using multiple satellite observations, particularly when typhoon intensity is reasonably well predicted, providing timely analysis results and products of operational importance.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

sea surface wind / multi-platform satellites / Typhoon Soulik (2018)

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank four anonymous reviewers for valuable comments and useful suggestions, and Editage for English language editing, and give special thanks to John Knaff, MyeongHee Han, Minho Kwon, Il-Ju Moon, and Chu-Yong Chung for advice and discussions on developing the algorithm. The best track data sets were obtained from the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center of the Japan Meteorological Agency (available at Japan Meteorological Agency website). ECMWF-YOTC and ERA5 data are provided by ECMWF (available at ECMWF website) and Copernicus (available at Copernicus website). The COMS CTT and AMV data were provided by the National Meteorological Satellite Center, Korea Meteorological Administration (available at Korea Meteorological Administration website). NOAA15 AMSU-a data were provided by the Global Hydrology Resource Center (GHRC), one of NASA’s DAACs (available at NASA website). MetOp-A and-B ASCAT data were provided by the JPL/NASA (available at JPL/NASA OPeNDAP website). This work was supported by the ‘Development of Typhoon and Ocean Applications’ project, funded by ETRI, which is a subproject of the ‘Development of Geostationary Meteorological Satellite Ground Segment (NMSC-2019-01)’ program funded by NMSC of KMA. This research was a part of the project titled “Construction of Ocean Research Station and their Application Studies” funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in republic of Korea.

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