Chapter 4
Discoveries About Tropical Cyclones Provided
by Microwave Remote Sensing
Kristina B. Katsaros
4.1 Introduction
Since the first “Oceans from Space” meeting in Venice, in the spring of 1980,
microwave remote sensing of storms over the oceans has developed in numerous
ways. The first seeds to use microwave passive and active instruments were sown
with the SEASAT satellite launched in 1978 (see e.g. Katsaros and Brown, 1991).
It carried the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SSMR), the SEASAT
scatterometer, an altimeter, and a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). I review below
how these types of instruments in their later incarnations have contributed to
our understanding of tropical cyclones, also known as hurricanes and typhoons
and by other names in different ocean basins. In addition to the four types of
SEASAT instruments, since 1998 we have had the rain radar on the Tropical Rainfall
Measuring Mission (TRMM; see Simpson et al., 1988; Kummerow et al., 2000),
which has added a new whole dimension to observing precipitation in these storms.
In Section 4.2, I give a short synopsis and examples of how each of these instrument
types have benefited Tropical Cyclones (TC) research and provided practical applications. Often, employing data from more than one sensor contributes to interpretating the information inherent in each of them. I have not attempted to review the use
of microwave sounders. In Section 4.3, I shall present some thoughts on how these
advances can be amplified in the near future. Section 4.4 gives some conclusions.
4.2 Five Types of Microwave Sensors and Tropical Cyclones
This review cover, in turn, microwave radiometers, rain radars, scatterometry, altimetry and the use of Synthetic Aperture Radars. Table 4.1 lists these instruments
in a generic way, giving typical microwave frequencies, swath widths and footprint
sizes.
K.B. Katsaros (B)
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Miami, FL, USA: and Northwest Research
Associates, Bellevue, WA 98052, USA
e-mail: katsaros@whidbey.net
59
V. Barale et al. (eds.), Oceanography from Space,
DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_4, C
Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010
Discoveries About Tropical Cyclones Provided
by Microwave Remote Sensing
Kristina B. Katsaros
4.1 Introduction
Since the first “Oceans from Space” meeting in Venice, in the spring of 1980,
microwave remote sensing of storms over the oceans has developed in numerous
ways. The first seeds to use microwave passive and active instruments were sown
with the SEASAT satellite launched in 1978 (see e.g. Katsaros and Brown, 1991).
It carried the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SSMR), the SEASAT
scatterometer, an altimeter, and a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). I review below
how these types of instruments in their later incarnations have contributed to
our understanding of tropical cyclones, also known as hurricanes and typhoons
and by other names in different ocean basins. In addition to the four types of
SEASAT instruments, since 1998 we have had the rain radar on the Tropical Rainfall
Measuring Mission (TRMM; see Simpson et al., 1988; Kummerow et al., 2000),
which has added a new whole dimension to observing precipitation in these storms.
In Section 4.2, I give a short synopsis and examples of how each of these instrument
types have benefited Tropical Cyclones (TC) research and provided practical applications. Often, employing data from more than one sensor contributes to interpretating the information inherent in each of them. I have not attempted to review the use
of microwave sounders. In Section 4.3, I shall present some thoughts on how these
advances can be amplified in the near future. Section 4.4 gives some conclusions.
4.2 Five Types of Microwave Sensors and Tropical Cyclones
This review cover, in turn, microwave radiometers, rain radars, scatterometry, altimetry and the use of Synthetic Aperture Radars. Table 4.1 lists these instruments
in a generic way, giving typical microwave frequencies, swath widths and footprint
sizes.
K.B. Katsaros (B)
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Miami, FL, USA: and Northwest Research
Associates, Bellevue, WA 98052, USA
e-mail: katsaros@whidbey.net
59
V. Barale et al. (eds.), Oceanography from Space,
DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-8681-5_4, C
Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010