HAMSR on the Global Hawk: Unmanned Observations of Tropical Storms across Several Years

We want to present observations from a microwave sounder, the High Altitude MMIC Sounder Radiometer (HAMSR). HAMSR was flying on the uncrewed Global Hawk on several NASA field campaigns during the last years and observed various fascinating tropical storms. The observations span almost a decade and reach from rapid intensification cases, like Hurricane Karl in 2010, to strong precipitation cases, like Harvey in 2017. We will use data from these previous NASA field campaigns and highlight various cases where rapid changes occurred during the observation and how we will try to extract more information. We will highlight the advantage and the need for reprocessing of older datasets. A new retrieval algorithm allowed us to retrieve improved thermodynamic profiles from older campaigns and reevaluated the results. It allowed us to revisit the data, and we gained new insights into the tropical process. Additionally, by adapting the retrieval process to current assimilation needs, we can assimilate these profiles into a high-resolution model. It helps to extend the view onto the environment and dynamics of the storm. Based on these observations, which span an entire decade, we want to highlight the advantages and problems with such uncrewed observations and what can be learned for other uncrewed observation systems. We also want to highlight the need to reprocess and reevaluate older data, especially in our time, when retrieval approaches and new computer systems are changing rapidly. Copyright 2021 California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged