Abstract：This study explores the potential of assimilating data from multiple instruments onboard high-altitude, longendurance unmanned aircraft to improve hurricane analyses and forecasts. A recent study found a significant positive impact on analyses and forecasts of Hurricane Karl when an ensemble Kalman filter was used to assimilate data from the High-altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP), a new Doppler radar onboard the NASA Global Hawk (GH) unmanned airborne system. The GH can also carry other useful instruments, including dropsondes and the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD), which is a new radiometer that estimates large swaths of wind speeds and rainfall at the ocean surface. The primary finding is that simultaneously
assimilating data from HIWRAP and the other GH-compatible instruments results in further analysis and forecast improvement for Karl. The greatest improvement comes when HIWRAP, HIRAD, and dropsonde data are simultaneously assimilated.
Corresponding Authors:
Jason A. Sippel, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NCWCP W/NP2, 5830 University Research Court, College Park, MD, 20740-3818. E-mail: jason.sippel@noaa.gov
Cite this article:
Jason A. Sippel, Fuqing Zhang, Yonghui Weng et al., 2015: Further Exploring the Potential for Assimilation of Unmanned Aircraft Observations to Benefit Hurricane Analyses and Forecasts. Tropical Cyclone Research and Review, 4(2), 64-70.
