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GOES-R Proving Ground Product Demonstration: Tropical Overshooting Tops (TOTs) Tutorial |
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| Product Developers: Sarah Monette and Chris Velden |
| Collaborators: Kristopher Bedka, Chris Rozoff, and Wayne Feltz |
Concept
OTs are associated with vigorous tropical convection, and may be employed as a proxy for identifying "vortical
hot towers," hypothesized to be important for hurricane genesis and intensity change.
Application
Trends in OTs associated with pre or existing hurricanes can be related to favorable environmental factors for
genesis or RI, respectively.
TOT Algorithm Synopsis
Find relative minima in the GOES 4-km 11 µm BT field colder than
215K. Compute the mean BT of the surrounding anvil cloud. Cloud pixel minima 9K colder than the surrounding anvil are
flagged/identified as overshooting tops.
Analysis
OTs will be analyzed over the METEOSAT-9 satellite scan area out to 55° W. An example of this scan area can be seen in the below image from 2004.
TOT locations are indicated by the yellow dots from the MSG satellite scan (proxy for GOES-R demo).
Monitoring TOT Trends
The number of TOTs within 200km of the TC center will be monitored. Note the spike in the TOTs prior to the rapid intensification of Ivan.
