Sensitivity of satellite-derived high-resolution SST field on track and intensity prediction of tropical cyclone MALA: using WRF model

Abstract

In the present study we have carried out few experiments to see the impact of sea surface temperature (SST) field obtained from TRMM Microwave Imager on the simulation of tropical cyclone MALA, formed over the Bay of Bengal on 24th April 2006 and made landfall on 29 April 0600 UTC at Arakan coast in Myanmar (17.7 N, 94.5 E). We have used NCEP global analysis data for this study. In this global analysis the Reynolds SST field is used as ocean boundary condition, which is having coarser resolution. Some experiments were carried out in past where people found that the wind stress fields in the ECMWF model improved dramatically after implementation of improved SST boundary condition. Also, satellite microwave measurement of SST by the TMI and Advance Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) have revealed that SST in regions of strong SST fronts associated with ocean currents exert a strong influence on the marine atmospheric boundary layer, resulting in a remarkably high positive correlation between surface winds and SST on scales smaller than few thousand kilometers. Here we have replaced coarser resolution SST in the control runs with high-resolution microwave based SST, obtained from TMI. Results are sowing that, the use TMI SST as ocean boundary condition has positive impact on the simulation of tropical cyclone.