Tropical cyclones over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal tracked by Megha-Tropiques SAPHIR during 2011–2018

• Published in: Journal of Earth System Science Vol. 128; no. 4; p. 91
• Main Authors: Vasudha, M P, Raju, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01.06.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit; Brightness temperature; Channels; Clouds; Cyclone tracks; Cyclones; Datasets; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Humidity; Hurricanes; Meteorological satellites; Microwave sounding; Radiation; Regression analysis; Regression models; Sensors; Space Exploration and Astronautics; Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics; Spatial discrimination; Spatial resolution; Storms; Surface radiation temperature; Temperature; Temporal resolution; Tracking; Tropical cyclones; Bay of Bengal; Arabian Sea; Brightness temperature; Megha-Tropiques; SAPHIR; sounder channels; tracking; cyclone
• ISSN: 2347-4327; 0253-4126; 0973-774X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12040-019-1122-9

Monitoring of tropical cyclones (TCs) using the Sondeur Atmosphérique du Profil d’Humidité Intertropicale par Radiométrie (SAPHIR) sounder on-board the Megha-Tropiques satellite is attempted on a qualitative basis. The sounder with a high resolution of 10 km at nadir, combined with its high temporal observation ability, 4–6 times a day, and with six channels at 183.31 ± 11.0 GHz, is used for tracking the cyclones. The study has been performed by applying SAPHIR brightness temperature datasets to the cyclonic regions. In this study, 25 TCs from 2011 to 2018 in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal over the North Indian Ocean have been observed. A comparison of six channels of SAPHIR shows the clear variations of the eye of the cyclone under various conditions. Furthermore, the positional variations obtained by multiple linear regression models are used to observe the evolution of the cyclone storm from its genesis to dissipation/landfall for all the 25 cyclones. The location accuracy is found to be 0.2–0.3 ∘ , as observed from the SAPHIR dataset that agrees reasonably well with the India Meteorological Department dataset and Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit sounder dataset in cyclone tracking. This study attempts at using the unique features of high temporal resolution, good spatial resolution and more channels and is expected to complement other methods of cyclone tracking.