ATL: ARTHUR - Recon Discussion

[brunota2003]

I saw some people talking about the fact there wasn't a recon discussion thread, and they had stuff to ask or say...so here it is! Y'all come back now, ya hear?

[meriland23]

I saw some people talking about the fact there wasn't a recon discussion thread, and they had stuff to ask or say...so here it is! Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Hahah!! I was literally just looking for this! It's helpful to someone like me who can't understand the recon data alone.

[tolakram]

Here is the post explaining the codes.

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=85603&view=unread#unread

URNT15 KNHC 200524
AF304 1104A DEAN HDOB 41 20070820
051430 1736N 07936W 6979 02518 9317 +144 +144 017055 067 100 013 03
051500 1736N 07934W 6971 02514 9279 +164 +155 023032 033 054 001 03
051530 1736N 07933W 6969 02503 9266 +167 +147 035024 027 028 004 03
051600 1735N 07931W 6964 02500 9254 +170 +148 059015 019 021 003 00
051630 1734N 07929W 6968 02494 9254 +166 +148 133009 015 019 004 00
051700 1734N 07928W 6965 02506 9298 +154 +148 179029 039 032 004 03
051730 1734N 07926W 6971 02516 9290 +156 +156 185055 066 053 005 00
051800 1734N 07926W 6971 02516 9327 +146 +146 184071 088 075 009 00
051830 1734N 07922W 6973 02608 9386 +159 +145 182111 119 089 000 00
051900 1734N 07921W 6961 02680 9453 +157 +107 179119 120 103 000 00
051930 1734N 07919W 6966 02724 9507 +154 +116 178117 119 110 000 00
052000 1734N 07917W 6979 02741 9580 +119 +119 170112 113 118 007 00
052030 1734N 07916W 6960 02809 9990 +090 +999 176108 109 115 020 01
052100 1734N 07914W 6977 02837 9990 +070 +999 175117 122 102 036 01
052130 1734N 07913W 6956 02885 9990 +066 +999 172117 120 093 025 05
052200 1734N 07912W 6982 02887 9990 +058 +999 168114 116 999 999 05
052230 1734N 07910W 6963 02936 9833 +064 +064 169108 110 081 019 00
052300 1734N 07909W 6966 02950 9848 +070 +070 168104 106 076 009 00
052330 1734N 07907W 6964 02970 9869 +069 +069 167100 101 071 012 00
052400 1734N 07907W 6964 02970 9877 +071 +071 168098 099 068 012 00


Taking the last line:

1) Time: 05:24:00 GMT
2) Latitude: 17° 34'N (17.57°N)
3) Longitude: 79° 7'W (79.12°W)
4) Static pressure in aeroplane of 696.4 mb (hPa)
5) Geopotential height of 2970 m
6) 30 second surface pressure mean extrapolation of 987.7 mb (hPa)
7) 30 second mean air temperature of +7.1C
8) 30 second mean dew point of +7.1C
9) 30 second mean wind direction of 168 degrees
10) 30 second mean wind of 98 kts
11) Ten second gust of 99 kts
12) Peak ten second Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer [SFMR] surface wind of 68 kts
13) SFMR precipitation rate of 12 mm/hr
14) Suspect data codes are as follows:

First column indicates status of positional variables as follows:
0 All parameters of nominal accuracy
1 Lat/lon questionable
2 Geopotential altitude or static pressure questionable
3 Both lat/lon and GA/PS questionable

Second column indicates status of meteorological variables as follows:
0 All parameters of nominal accuracy
1 T or TD questionable
2 Flight-level winds questionable
3 SFMR parameter(s) questionable
4 T/TD and FL winds questionable
5 T/TD and SFMR questionable
6 FL winds and SFMR questionable
9 T/TD, FL winds, and SFMR questionable

[Hammy]

Did we completely lose the barometer readings as it got to the center?

[CrazyC83]

It appears so. A rough extrapolation has the pressure around 985 using the heights.

[WxEnthus]

Did we completely lose the barometer readings as it got to the center?

Looks like it, no pressure data reported in that span.

[WxEnthus]

NOAA plane is out now, too.

[WilmingtonSandbar]

Looks like from that last radar fix, it is now moving NE instead of NNE

[ravyrn]

Why is Arthur @ 90mph? I'm not seeing anything over 71 knots which is roughly 82mph.

[ravyrn]

Arthur continues to deepen. Pressure down to 974mb this last pass. Interested to see what NOAA3 finds in the NE eyewall and quadrant.

[ravyrn]

What is going on here?

[ravyrn]

I'm still new to posting in the recon thread, so I have a few questions just to make sure I'm posting the standard stuff by the unwritten rules of storm2k recon threads.

We post HDOBs from takeoff up until the point where the plane ascends in altitude and starts heading back to base? Also, what's the best way to tell a plane that is broadcasting HDOBs is actually going into the storm (case in point: I posted NOAA9's hdobs a couple times before Alyono brought to my attention it wasn't going into Arthur). Also, what's the best way to tell when a plane is heading home. Is their elevation in the raw data the best hint?

Should I always post dropsondes, and is the manner in which supercane4867 is currently posting them preferred to posting the raw data?

And always post the VDMs, yes?

I enjoy participating on storm2k, this is just rather new to me, and I want to be as consistent as possible with other contributors.

[Chris_in_Tampa]

Most people do post obs upon takeoff just so people are aware of the progress of the plane heading toward the storm.

NOAA9 always samples around the storm. They used to not post HDOB messages. That is rather new.

Vortex messages are very important. There is a lot of important data highlighted in it and it is more likely to be a little bit more reviewed than other raw data. (Always keep in mind that data is always raw. It may be wrong or misleading.)

The best indication of a flight heading home...

- Plane gaining altitude. (Not always, the plane might go higher if things get rough.)

- Looks like it is heading away from the storm in a way that is not like the normal patterns it is doing. (That would be Air Force, NOAA can do some really crazy patterns sometimes.)

- The best way is to look at the "Plan of the Day" here: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/recon.php
And how to read it: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutreconpod.shtml
"E" is important. That is "Time on Station". In Zulu time, it's basically the time they are actually in the storm.

- Or another way, perhaps slowest: http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/data/raw/ur ... .knhc..txt
A RECCO message. It will often have a "LAST REPORT" line at the end on the final RECCO message of the mission.

As for sondes, people post sonde data in various ways. I'm not sure what people prefer. Even if not decoded, if you see one with a low pressure that was dropped in the center that has not been the subject of a vortex message yet, I would at least post it raw and note the MSLP and maybe even the surface wind in case they missed the center a little bit which can be determined somewhat if the wind is not nearly calm. As vortex messages in the eyewall, perhaps note the highest surface wind. (which is a gust) Maybe the lowest averaged winds too. (Average Wind Over Lowest Available 150 geopotential meters (gpm) of the sounding)

That is: "Identifier: WL150 ddfff zzz - Average wind over the lowest available 150 m of the wind sounding. Where ddfff is
the mean wind over the 150 m layer centered at zzz m."

If you ever do a sonde diagram screenshot, and you want a little better sonde diagram screenshot, you could use my new experimental manual decoder here:
http://www.tropicalatlantic.com/recon/r ... ?decoder=1
It has a little better graph, and you can adjust the size.

Maybe others can say what sonde data they like best. (Like maybe the highest wind gust recorded and the level it occurred at.)

I thought I would post the beta version of my Google Earth tutorial (reflects some things that are not currently in my recon product):
http://tropicalatlantic.com/temp/2014/0 ... raft.shtml
(it has a little more on the planes)

[Dave]

Good evening! What do we have in the air now? I'm in on a tablet so can't do graphics at all but I may try hdobs as soon as I get used to this set up. Tried my laptop but just cant hold it yet, bones won't all,ow it. From what I can tell everyone's doing great and thanks for covering for me this year. Dave - Recon

[Chris_in_Tampa]

Also, another something you can point out in the vortex message would be like the one that just came across. The previous vortex had an open eyewall. The recent vortex had it as closed.

[weatherSnoop]

Good evening! What do we have in the air now? I'm in on a tablet so can't do graphics at all but I may try hdobs as soon as I get used to this set up. Tried my laptop but just cant hold it yet, bones won't all,ow it. From what I can tell everyone's doing great and thanks for covering for me this year. Dave - Recon

Welcome back Dave

[Dave]

Watch for CCA vdms. That means there is a correction to the previous vdm.

[Dave]

Good evening! What do we have in the air now? I'm in on a tablet so can't do graphics at all but I may try hdobs as soon as I get used to this set up. Tried my laptop but just cant hold it yet, bones won't all,ow it. From what I can tell everyone's doing great and thanks for covering for me this year. Dave - Recon

Welcome back Dave

Miss me? Don't answer!

[ravyrn]

Thanks for the responses, folks. I get the gist of it. Some of the terms/explanations you guys used is a bit advanced for me, but I will learn them with time. Thanks for your thoughts and insight.

[ravyrn]

Good evening! What do we have in the air now? I'm in on a tablet so can't do graphics at all but I may try hdobs as soon as I get used to this set up. Tried my laptop but just cant hold it yet, bones won't all,ow it. From what I can tell everyone's doing great and thanks for covering for me this year. Dave - Recon

AF304 is currently up in the air. I think HDOBs and graphics are currently being covered by Artist and supercane4867.