Recent advancements in aircraft and in situ observations of tropical cyclones

Observations of tropical cyclones (TC) from aircraft andin situ platforms provide critical and unique information for analyzing and forecasting TC intensity, structure, track, and their associated hazards. This report, prepared for the tenth International Workshop on Tropical Cyclones (IWTC-10), discusses the data collected around the world in TCs over the past four years since the IWTC-9, improvements to observing techniques, new instruments designed to achieve sustained and targeted atmospheric and oceanic observations, and select research results related to these observations. In the Atlantic and Eastern and Central Pacific basins, changes to operational aircraft reconnaissance are discussed along with several of the research field campaigns that have taken place recently. The changes in the use and impact of these aircraft observations in numerical weather prediction models are also provided along with updates on some of the experimental aircraft instrumentation. Highlights from three field campaigns in the Western Pacific basin are also discussed. Examples of in-situ data collected within recent TCs such as Hurricane Ian (2022), also demonstrate that new, emerging technologies and observation strategies reviewed in this report, definitely have the potential to further improve ocean-atmosphere coupled intensity forecasts.& COPY; 2023 The Shanghai Typhoon Institute of China Meteorological Administration. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communication Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This report discusses the collection of aircraft and in situ observations of tropical cyclones over the past four years, improvements in observing techniques, new instruments, and research results. It also highlights changes in operational aircraft reconnaissance and research field campaigns in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Western Pacific basins. The report emphasizes the potential of new technologies and observation strategies to improve ocean-atmosphere coupled intensity forecasts.