Surface pressure profiles, vortex structure and initialization for hurricane prediction. Part I: analysis of observed and synthetic structures

Abstract

Without detailed reconnaissance, consistent representation of hurricane-like vortices in initial conditions for operational prediction and research simulations still remains elusive. It is thus often necessary, particularly for high-resolution intensity forecasting, to use synthetic tropical cyclone circulations to initialize forecast models. Variants on three commonly used surface pressure profiles are evaluated for possible use. Enhancements to the original profiles are proposed that allows definition of both the inner-core and outer circulation. The latter improvement creates a vortex more consistent with the estimated outer structure which sometimes appears to be crucial to the evolving intensity of the storm. It also allows smoother merging of the synthetic vortex with the environment. Comparisons of the profiles against (a) structure estimates, (b) each other, (c) structures obtained via conservation of angular momentum, and (d) observed vorticity structures, suggest that a new enhanced Fujita profile best represents real TC structures. Student-t tests indicate that improved fitting to the observations is statistically significant.