Multiformity of the tropical cyclone wind-pressure relationship in the western North Pacific: discrepancies among four best-track archives

The reliability of tropical cyclone intensity estimates for the western North Pacific is assessed in the context of wind-pressure relationships. Four best-track datasets compiled in the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) are compared to assess the data consistency. Over the past 20 yr period (1991-2010), apparent interagency discrepancies in the archived tropical cyclone intensities are found. Heavy reliance upon operational wind-pressure relationships may reduce subjective biases at the cost of potential loss of tropical cyclone natural variability. Given that the intercomparisons are performed based upon a set of identical tropical cyclones, the differences in operational wind-pressure relationships and in the mapping of satellite tropical cyclone intensity classification for these relationships are presumably critical causes of the interagency discrepancies. This result calls for imperative refinement of current satellite-based tropical cyclone intensity estimates and reanalysis of historical tropical cyclone best-track archives for the basin.