Hurricane Beryl's Wind Structure

Your Task

With the ASCAT, SMAP, AMSR2, and SAR wind products, what is the outermost range of the radius of gale force wind (34–47 kt) across the four quadrants of Hurricane Beryl in the 48 hours prior to landfall in Texas?

  1. 0 to 40 nautical miles (NM)
  2. 30 to 70 NM
  3. 60 to 100 NM
  4. 100 to 140 NM
  5. 120 to 160 NM
The Tools

With the analysis tool to the right, you can do the following:

  • Measure the distance.
    • Click Show Distance button to enable
    • Click and drag on the image
    • Click Hide Distance button to disable
  • Step through images by
    • Dragging the circle on the bar
    • Clicking the Start, Backward, or Forward buttons
    • Using the ←, →, or Spacebar
  • Zooming in
    • Left Click or Scroll to zoom in
    • CTRL + Left Click, CMD + Left Click, or Scroll to reset
  • Toggle overlays with checkboxes

Click for more information Tom Whittaker's HTML5 AnimationS webapp (HAniS)

The Data

Winds products from ASCAT, SMAP, AMSR2, and SAR overlayed on top of GOES-16 longwave infrared window channel imagery.

Basic information:

  • ASCAT — provides wind speed and direction. Good for structure. But, saturates near 75 kt.
  • SMAP — good for a wide range of structure and intensity applications. But, large spatial footprint.
  • AMSR2 — good for a wide range of structure and intensity applications. But, limited availability.
  • SAR — great for a wide range of structure and intensity applications. But, limited coverage.
Satellite wind products and acceptable applications in tropical cyclone environments
Suggested uses for satellite-based sensors for determining operational estimates of tropical cyclones structure, specifically the broad circulation, inner-core structural features, and those associated with the value and radius of the maximum sustained wind, VMAX and RMW, respectively. Guidance is applicable for average size tropical cyclones. From Knaff et al. (2021).
Real Time Wind Products
Disclaimer

The contents of this webpage do not necessarily reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).