Recent innovations in satellite-based applications and their impacts on tropical cyclone analyses and forecasts
Tropical cyclones (TCs) are a global extreme weather hazard well known for their occasional devastating impacts on life and property, as well as ecological systems. As human populations and infrastructure built along coastlines grow, they are increasingly prone to threats from landfalling TCs. These storms spend most of their lifecycle over oceanic basins, thus satellite-based reconnaissance is crucial for monitoring and analyzing key TC behavioral attributes critical to the forecast process. This article presents an overview of some of the recent advances in meteorological satellite capabilities to observe TCs, along with emerging techniques to analyze the data into TC-focused diagnostic products. We also devote a section on satellite applications to TC-like storms in the Mediterranean Sea, coined ‘Medicanes’. Finally, we present a peek at emerging geosynchronous equatorial orbit and low Earth orbiting satellites and sensors that have recently been deployed or will be in the near future by multiple nations and commercial entities that should further benefit TC (and Medicane) analysis and forecasting.
Authors
- Taiga Tsukada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2036-308X)
- Anne-Claire Fontan
- Ad Stoffelen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4018-4073)
- John A. Knaff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0427-1409)
- Giulia Panegrossi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5170-7087)
- Joseph B. Courtney (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8733-8589)
- Jeffrey Hawkins
- Alexis Mouche (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1250-4436)
- Derrick Herndon
- Christopher S. Velden
Institutions
- Bureau of Meteorology (AU)
- Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (NL)
- World Meteorological Organization (CH)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Ifremer (FR)
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (US)
- Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies (US)
- Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (IT)
- National Research Council (IT)
- Colorado State University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the European Meteorological Society.
- Published
- 2025-03-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemets.2025.100011
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.90
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer
- Magee-Womens Research Institute
- European Space Agency
- Indian Space Research Organisation
- European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites
- Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
- Office of Naval Research