CloudSat & A-Train Observations of Tropical Cyclones

CloudSat, the first 94 GHz cloud profiling radar was launched in 2006 to study the vertical distribution of clouds and water vapor in the atmosphere. Over 7000 overpasses of tropical cyclones in various stages of development from June 2006 through April 2011 have been collected and collocated with sensors of A-TRAIN satellites including AMSR-E, MODIS and CALIPSO datasets. CloudSat observations provide a one of kind vertical composite of storm structure, rain bands, light and heavy precipitation areas, melting layer, eye and eye wall features along with other inner vertical details of tropical cyclones. A description of the CloudSat & A-TRAIN satellite dataset will be described along with example imagery from overpasses of tropical cyclones within a 1000 km of radial distance from storm center. Examples of multi-day overpasses, overshooting cloud tops and the impacts of vertical wind shear of tropical systems will be explored.