CloudSat and A-Train Observations of Tropical Cyclones

Abstract

The CloudSat 94-GHz Cloud Profiling Radar was designed to provide global information on the vertical structure of clouds. It was launched in April 2006, joining the A-Train of earth science satellites. Although primarily focused on clouds and climate, the CloudSat radar also provides a unique view of the vertical structure of clouds in tropical cyclones. The authors use data from CloudSat and other A-Train satellite constellation missions to examine tropical cyclone cloud properties. They consider several case studies and then examine cloud statistics based on seventeen tropical cyclone overpasses. In addition to the new qualitative view of cloud structure provided by CloudSat, the CloudSat and other ATrain products also contain quantitative estimates of cloud properties. Although the accuracy of these products in tropical cyclones is not validated by direct comparison, the authors do find reasonable agreement with previous in situ measurements.