March 4, 2008 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC Dr. Scott A. Braun TRMM Project Scientist Mesoscale Atmospheric Processes Branch (613.1) Laboratory for Atmospheres NASA/GSFC Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference Charleston, SC March 4, 2008

Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC NASA Hurricane Research Focus Areas Satellite remote sensing Field campaigns Numerical modeling Sensor development

March 4, 2008 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC Satellite Observations of Hurricanes TRMM Quikscat Aqua CALIPSO/CloudSat Aura GPM JASON

March 4, 2008 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC NASA Field Programs Program Manager: Ramesh Kakar Field programs coordinated with NOAA/Hurricane Research Division NASA DC-8NASA ER-2

GEOS5 & Katrina: The benefits of improved horizontal resolution 1 degree resolution 0.5 degree resolution 0.25 degree resolution Precipitation Rate 0.25 degree resolution 1 degree resolution 0.5 degree resolution Verifying Analysis from NOAA/NCEP Sea Level Pressure Improving the simulation of hurricanes on a global scale to understand the impacts of interannual variability and climate change on hurricanes M. Rienecker et al. NASA Modeling, Analysis and Prediction (MAP) Program Applied to Tropical Systems

March 4, 2008 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC NASA Contributions to Research Priorities Satellites Field exs. Priority research

March 4, 2008 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC Hot Towers in the Eyewall Movie produced by Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio Tower formation, movement related to eyewall mesovortices (Braun et al., 2006) Mesovortices mix high energy air from eye into eyewall (Cram et al. 2007)

March 4, 2008Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC Does the Saharan Air Layer Have a Negative Influence? Some storms are surrounded by Saharan air and yet intensify to Category 4 or 5 intensity. Image: Hurricane Fabian (2003) surrounded by dry, dusty air. Data from TRMM, MODIS, and AIRS. Dust24-h Accumulated Rain Relative Humidity

9 Special JAS Issue Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences VOLUME 63 NUMBER 1 January 2006 Is a special CAMEX issue containing 21 papers Preparations underway for TCSP/NAMMA special issue

March 4, 2008 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC NASA Contributions to Research Priorities Satellites Field Exs. MAP Priority research

March 4, 2008 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC Hurricane Simulations Using Global Models Models used: GEOS5 Allows simulation of global processes Used to study – Weather prediction – Large-scale control – Impacts of El Nino/La Nina – Impact of climate change GEOS4 simulation of Hurricane Ivan (2004)

March 4, 2008 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC High-Resolution Modeling Models used: MM5 and WRF (Weather Research and Forecast Model) Allow simulation of fine-scale features of hurricanes Used to study – Hurricane genesis – The role of hot towers – The impacts of vertical wind shear and the Saharan Air Layer Tropical Storm Gert (2005)

March 4, 2008 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC NASA Contributions to Research Priorities Satellites Field Exs. MAP Priority research

TRMM Tracks Changes In Rainfall Structure and Accumulation Combined with other satellites, the TRMM multi-satellite precipitation analysis (3B42) helps map rainfall evolution in hurricanes. Available from Saffir/Simpson Category TS Hurricane Intensity Surface Wind (km/h) (mph)   9/08/04 9/12/04 9/14/04 9/15/04 9/16/04 By itself, TRMM provides detailed views of hurricane structure and structure change (example here is Hurricane Isabel in 2003). Hurricane Isabel accumulated rainfall Vertical structure from PR

March 4, 2008Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC TRMM Measures Heavy Rainfall from Hurricane Noel Images by Hal Pierce, NASA/GSFC TRMM Multi-satellite precipitation analysis measures >400 mm of rain over D. R. and Haiti from Noel 81 deaths, several hundred thousand displaced “Your images have been incredible- -they are stunning and extremely useful. It was even presented to the minister of environment and head of disasters in the DR. Deeply appreciated. Please know we are crediting you everywhere.” – Daniel Irwin, MSFC, SERVIR Project Manager

Key CloudSat observations are vertical profiles of: cloud liquid water content cloud ice water content cloud physical & radiative properties Furnish data needed to improve model predictions of clouds to increase understanding cloud-climate feedback Provide data needed to improve weather forecast models (CloudSat data already being assimilated into Navy’s operational weather forecast model) Altitude (km) MODIS 12 µm Channel CloudSat Radar Reflectivity (dBZ) B A A Hurricane Ileana 23 August UTC B 20 0

March 4, 2008 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC Instrument Development Wind lidar technologies Scanning Doppler radar (HIWRAP) Hurricane imaging radiometer (HIRAD) Geostationary microwave sounder (Geostar) NEXRAD in Space

March 4, 2008Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC Planning/Implementation Activities Airborne Integration Program (2007) –Test new technologies on aircraft –e.g., HIWRAP, Twilite Wind Lidar Science (2007) –Development and implementation of wind lidar technologies ROSES 2008 –NASA Research Announcement in February for hurricane studies –Convene hurricane science team to guide deployment for 2010 field campaign

March 4, 2008Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC

March 4, 2008Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC ROSES 2008 Application of multiple NASA assets (satellite and field data) to hurricane research problems Image: Hurricane Fabian (2003) surrounded by dry, dusty SAL air. Data from TRMM, MODIS, and AIRS. Dust24-h Accumulated Rain Relative Humidity

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March 4, 2008 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, Charleston, SC NASA Science Questions How is the Earth system changing? –How are global precipitation, evaporation, and water cycling changing? What are the consequences of change for human civilization? –How are variations in weather, precipitation, and water resources related to climate variation? How will the Earth system change in the future and how can we improve predictions through advances in remote sensing, data assimilation, and modeling? –How can weather forecast reliability be improved?

23 Packing Heat in the Gulf  Altimetry combined with SST data and a two-layer model is used to calculate Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential (TCHP)  TCHP is a measure of the oceanic heat content from the sea surface to the 26°C isotherm  Both hurricanes rapidly intensified to category 5 as they passed over the Loop Current and a warm ring, then diminished to category 4 and category 3, respectively, by the time they traveled over cooler waters  High values of TCHP may be linked to hurricane intensification.