Satellite Analysis of Tropical Cyclones Using the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU)

The first Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) was launched aboard the NOAA-15 satellite on 13 May 1998. The AMSU is well suited for the observation of tropical cyclones because its measurements are not significantly affected by the ice clouds that cover tropical storms. In this paper, the following are presented: 1) upper-tropospheric thermal anomalies in tropical cyclones retrieved from AMSU data, 2) the correlation of maximum temperature anomalies with maximum wind speed and central pressure, 3) winds calculated from the temperature anomaly field, 4) comparison of AMSU data with GOES and AVHRR imagery, and 5) tropical cyclone rainfall potential. The AMSU data appear to offer substantial opportunities for improvement in tropical cyclone analysis and forecasting.