Chen, Shuyi S., Ronald Gordon, Patricia Sanchez, Rosenstiel
School of Marine and Atmopsheric Science(RSMAS)/University of Miami, Hans Huang
and Xin Zhang, NCAR/MMM
One of the most
challenging issues in hurricane intensity forecasting is the lack of accurate
initial condition for hurricane inner core structure in prediction models. This
study has been designed to examine the impact of assimilating the airborne
Doppler radar 3D wind fields collected in the hurricane inner core on the
hurricane structure and intensity forecasts. A number of experiments have been conducted using the WRF
4DVar data assimilation of the high-resolution Doppler radar winds in Hurricane
Ike, which not only show a significant impact on storm structure but also help
identify issues for assimilating high-resolution data.