Abstract
AbstractWe present the first examples of Global Navigation Satellite Systems‐Reflectometry (GNSS‐R) observations of hurricanes using spaceborne data from the UK TechDemoSat‐1 (TDS‐1) mission. We confirm that GNSS‐R signals can detect ocean condition changes in very high near‐surface ocean wind associated with hurricanes. TDS‐1 GNSS‐R reflections were collocated with International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) hurricane data, MetOp ASCAT A/B scatterometer winds, and two reanalysis products. Clear variations of GNSS‐R reflected power (σ0) are observed as reflections travel through hurricanes, in some cases up to and through the eye wall. The GNSS‐R reflected power is tentatively inverted to estimate wind speed using the TDS‐1 baseline wind retrieval algorithm developed for low to moderate winds. Despite this, TDS‐1 GNSS‐R winds through the hurricanes show closer agreement with IBTrACS estimates than winds provided by scatterometers and reanalyses. GNSS‐R wind profiles show realistic spatial patterns and sharp gradients that are consistent with expected structures around the eye of tropical cyclones.
Highlights
Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones are recognized as one of the potentially most destructive forces in nature, so observing and predicting their behavior has been an on-going ambition and challenge (Gall et al, 2013; Mohanty & Gopalakrishnan, 2016)
We present the first examples of Global Navigation Satellite Systems-Reflectometry (GNSS-R)
We present examples from the UK TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1) mission that demonstrates for the first time that GNSS-R can sense ocean surface condition changes associated with hurricanes using spaceborne receivers
Summary
Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones (all denominations of the same weather phenomenon) are recognized as one of the potentially most destructive forces in nature, so observing and predicting their behavior has been an on-going ambition and challenge (Gall et al, 2013; Mohanty & Gopalakrishnan, 2016). The recent devastating impact of hurricanes Harvey on Houston and Irma on Florida and the Caribbean underlines the need for improved observations and predictions. We demonstrate for the first time that useful observations of hurricanes can be obtained using spaceborne Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R). GNSS-R is a relatively new remote sensing technique (Zavorotny et al, 2014), whose utility for measuring hurricane winds has previously been demonstrated only using airborne GNSS-R systems (Katzberg et al, 2006). We present examples from the UK TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1) mission that demonstrates for the first time that GNSS-R can sense ocean surface condition changes associated with hurricanes using spaceborne receivers. Once GNSS-R signals are corrected for instrument and platform effects, credible wind speed profiles that are consistent with expected hurricane wind field structures and gradients can be retrieved in hurricanes from spaceborne GNSS-R signals
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