Airborne Doppler Radar Analysis of a TOGA COARE Waterspout Storm

Abstract

An airborne Doppler radar analysis of a waterspout parent storm is presented. An 8-min window centered around the time of the visual observation of the waterspout is presented. The waterspout was associated with a small, intense cloud that developed ahead of a squall line. It was observed by radar from a distance of 3 km, with a cross-beam resolution of approximately 70 m. One radar scan cut through the vortex, revealing the structure. The high-resolution dual-Doppler analysis of the Electra Doppler radar was used to investigate the velocity and vorticity structure of the parent storm. These observations were consistent with a low-level vorticity source. No cloud-scale vorticity was observed until the time of the visual observation of the storm.