WAcyclone wrote:A 0911 UTC SMAP pass of Vongfong yielded 62 kt 1-minute winds. Note that this was just before the apparent rapid intensification phase based on IR imagery.
https://i.imgur.com/6iAbpbC.jpg
I wonder if SMAP's resolution is challenged by Vongfong's small size in this case. SMAP has proven to be pretty good even in smaller TCs despite its resolution limitations, but the fix data for that pass (below) only has an average r34 of 36 nm. When down to this size, SMAP may have some struggles, as similar sized TCs like Banyan '17 or Ambali '19 seem to indicate. For what it's worth, an AMSU pass from NOAA-19 at almost the same time (0915Z) resulted in an 81 kt/975 mb estimate (also below), and in this case, I think I am more inclined to lean towards that estimate.
WP, 01, 202005130911, 30, SMAP, IR, , 1220N, 12790E, , 1, 55, 1, , , , 34, NEQ, 47, 51, 23, 23, , , , , 1, 0, , , NASA, RSS, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1, max. wind is 10 minute sustained
WP, 01, 202005130911, 30, SMAP, IR, , 1220N, 12790E, , 1, 55, 1, , , , 50, NEQ, 31, 0, 0, 0, , , , , 1, 0, , , NASA, RSS, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1, max. wind is 10 minute sustained
WP, 01, 202005130911, 30, SMAP, IR, , 1220N, 12790E, , 1, 55, 1, , , , 64, NEQ, 0, 0, 0, 0, , , , , 1, 0, , , NASA, RSS, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1, max. wind is 10 minute sustained
CIMSS/NESDIS-USAF/NRL AMSU TC Intensity Estimation:
TYPHOON 01W
Wednesday 13may20 Time: 0915 UTC
Latitude: 12.15 Longitude: 128.15
Storm position corresponds to AMSU-A FOV 20 [1<--->30]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| Estimated MSLP: 975 hPa
| Estimated Maximum Sustained Wind: 81 kts
| Estimate Confidence: Good ( +/- 7mb +/- 8kts )
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Storm is sub-sampled: Bias correction applied is -10.2 hPa
Channel 8 (~150 hPa) Tb Anomaly: -0.75228
Channel 7 (~250 hPa) Tb Anomaly: 0.984
RMW: 14 km
RMW Source is: IR
Environmental Pressure: 1007
Satellite: NOAA-19
ATCF data for Month: 05 Day: 13 Time (UTC): 0600
For imagery, go to
http://amsu.ssec.wisc.edu For all comments and questions mailto:chrisv@ssec.wisc.edu