The study of structure and evolution of tropical storm Gert (2005) with assimilation of satellite multi-sensor and in-situ data in high-resolution numerical simulations

Data assimilation and high-resolution numerical simulations are conducted to study the structure and evolution of tropical storm Gert (2005) over its life cycle. Aircraft dropsondes and satellite data from GOES, QuikSCAT, TRMM, obtained during the NASA Tropical Cloud System Processes (TCSP) field program, are assimilated into the next-generation Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with the aim of producing the best possible mesoscale analysis of the storm and its environmental conditions. Preliminary results show that the analyses were able to reveal the major features of mesoscale circulations associated with the development of the storm. Further studies are going to be performed with high-resolution numerical simulations in order to examine the detailed dynamic, thermodynamic and physical structures of the storm. The evolution of the convection, role of the convective burst as well as the large scale and mesoscale environmental conditions in storm development will be investigated and presented.