Journal
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
Volume 35, Issue 21, Pages 3547-3564Publisher
AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0127.1
Keywords
Tropical cyclones; Hurricanes; typhoons; Dropsondes; Diagnostics; Reanalysis data
Categories
Funding
- NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research
- NOAA Grant at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University [NA19OAR4320073]
- Office of Naval Research [N00014-21-1-2112]
- Colorado State University Office of the Vice President for Research Programs of Research and Scholarly Excellence
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates program [1461270]
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Div Atmospheric & Geospace Sciences [1461270] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The synoptic environment around tropical cyclones is crucial for their evolution. The Tropical Cyclone Precipitation, Infrared, Microwave, and Environmental Dataset (TC PRIMED) combines different data sources to capture the environment. ERA5, a reanalysis product, is used to provide a more complete representation of the storm environment. However, ERA5 shows biases in environmental diagnostics, especially in thermodynamic fields. These comparisons help users of TC PRIMED assess the uncertainty and implications for specific research and operational applications.
The synoptic environment around tropical cyclones plays a significant role in vortex evolution. To capture the environment, the operational and research communities calculate diagnostic quantities. To aid with applications and research, the Tropical Cyclone Precipitation, Infrared, Microwave, and Environmental Dataset (TC PRIMED) combines disparate data sources. A key part of TC PRIMED is the environmental context. Often, environmental diagnostics come from multiple sources. However, TC PRIMED uses the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts fifth-generation reanalysis (ERA5) product to provide a more complete representation of the storm environment from a single source. Reanalysis products usually poorly resolve tropical cyclones and their surrounding environment. To understand the uncertainty of large-scale diagnostics, ERA5 is compared to the Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction Scheme developmental dataset and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Gulfstream IV-SP dropwindsondes. This analysis highlights biases in the ERA5 environmental diagnostic quantities. Thermodynamic fields show the largest biases. The boundary layer exhibits a cold temperature bias that limits the amount of convective instability; also, the upper troposphere contains temperature biases and shows a high relative humidity bias. However, the upper-troposphere large-scale kinematic fields and derived metrics are low biased. In the lower troposphere, the temperature gradient and advection calculated from the thermal wind suggest that the low-level wind field is not representative of the observed distribution. These diagnostics comparisons provide uncertainty so that users of TC PRIMED can assess the implications for specific research and operational applications.
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