MIMIC: A New Approach to Visualizing Satellite Microwave Imagery of Tropical Cyclones

Abstract

Satellite-based passive microwave imagery of tropical cyclones (TCs) is an invaluable resource for assessing the organization and evolution of convective structures in TCs when often no other comparable observations exist. However, the current constellation of low-Earth-orbiting environmental satellites that can effectively image TCs in the microwave range make only semirandom passes over TC targets, roughly every 3?6 h, but vary from less than 30 min to more than 25 h between passes. These irregular time gaps hamper the ability of analysts/forecasters to easily incorporate these data into a diagnosis of the state of the TC. To address this issue, we have developed a family of algorithms called Morphed Integrated Microwave Imagery at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (MIMIC) to create synthetic ?morphed? images that utilize the observed imagery to fill in the time gaps and present time-continuous animations of tropical cyclones and their environment. MIMIC-TC is a product that presents a storm-centered 15-min-resolution animation of microwave imagery in the ice-scattering range (85?92 GHz), which can be interpreted very much like a ground-based radar animation. A second product, MIMIC-IR, animates a tropical cyclone?retrieved precipitation field layered over geostationary infrared imagery. These tools allow forecasters and analysts to use microwave imagery to follow trends in a tropical cyclone's structure more efficiently and effectively, which can result in higher-confidence short-term intensity forecasts.