Radio occultation for tropical cyclone monitoring and prediction

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the JASTP, which was founded by Edward Victor Appleton whose work greatly advanced the field of ionospheric science, we present a summary of our research on forecasting and monitoring tropical cyclones. Over the past three decades, radio occultation techniques have greatly improved our ability to monitor the Earth by employing satellite technology to accurately detect atmospheric and ionospheric qualities through novel calculations and approaches. Radio occultation advances our understanding of atmospheric dynamics and is highly accurate compared to terrestrial monitoring. This emphasizes its importance in contemporary meteorological and environmental research. While radio occultation holds potential for improving climate predictions, its shortcomings in accurately tackling tropical cyclogenesis highlight the demand for advanced algorithms and integrated data analysis. The study suggests that remote sensing technologies, particularly microwave surveillance, greatly enhance our understanding of sea-atmosphere system instability and enable timely tropical cyclone detection. By offering crucial measurements of heat fluxes and the vertical distribution of atmospheric gases, this approach advances cyclone prediction and addresses major scientific challenges in meteorology. The analysis showed that from 1995 to 2023, hurricanes in the North Atlantic (0°–20° N, 30°–70° W) mainly formed near tectonic faults, following a week of increased sensible and latent heat fluxes. Also, key calculations are included, and the determination of four Stock's coefficients is explored. These are vital for identifying cloud and rain formation as signs of tropical cyclone development. Finally, it proposes a global monitoring system using radio occultation to enhance cyclone forecasting. • Radio Occultation greatly enhances our understanding of sea-atmosphere system instability. • Microwave data enhance tropical cyclone forecasting by measuring heat fluxes and atmospheric gas distribution. • Four Stock coefficients identify cloud and rain formation as indicators of tropical cyclone development. • Tropical hurricanes during 1995–2023 primarily formed near tectonic faults after a week of elevated heat fluxes.