Developments in 2010 in in-flight real-time reporting of the directional ocean wave spectra

using WSRA [Wide Swath Radar Altimeter] from the NOAA WP-3D Hurricane Reconnaissance

Ivan PopStefanija popstefanija@prosensing.com ProSensing Inc. 107 Sunderland Road Amherst, MA 01002 USA

65th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

Edward J. Walshedward.walsh@noaa.govNOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO  80305

March 1, 201165th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference 2

Operational WSRA

Why?

Mapping ocean wave height (surface topography)

Measurement of ocean directional wave spectra

Real-time reporting of 12-foot seas radius

Improved forecasting of hurricane development

Verification of various ocean wave models

Operational, targeted measurements of storm surge for land falling hurricanes

March 1, 2011 65th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference 3

Technology Description:

Digital beam-forming antenna Microstrip planar antenna array Comprised of 62 sequentially-sampled

subarrays Size: 30 in x 30 in x 2 in

Transmitter 20 W solid-state transmitter Pulse compression processing Compression ratio of 1000:1 (at a

flight altitude of 500 m) to over 6000:1 (at a flight altitude of 3 km)

10-60 kW effective peak power Digital Receiver

WSRA DAQ Hardware: Echotek ECDR-2-12210-PMC 210 digitizer embedded in a single board dual core Pentium processor

WSRA highlightsthe 2010 Hurricane Season

Test flight on March 3rd 2010 [Partial success!] Testing WSRA data quality against the varying aircraft parameters: flight

altitude, pitch, roll, and cross-track movement of the aircraft (caused by flight level winds) using specified flight patterns.

Nuisance – Repair of WSRA transmitter hardware Delayed installation WSRA on WP-3D until end of August. WSRA missed the flights into Earl

Flight on 9/16/2010 into CAT-1 Hurricane Karl All the parts of the WSRA software were successfully tested, including the

transmission of data to AOC Performance during flight of both software and hardware have shown the

feasibility of fully-automated unattended operational WSRA

4March 1, 2011 65th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

WSRA software developments Implementation of the processing algorithm

for unattended in-flight execution Multi-threaded C application executed on a multi-

core PC processor

WSRA algorithm improvements: Antenna beam-pointing angle adjustment factor

calculated based on the estimation of the antenna width distortion caused by the lateral movement of the aircraft during the data integration time

Incremental (looped) estimation of the range-to-surface weighed by the range estimates in the neighbouring beams

Automatic adjustment of WSRA radar parameters as the auxiliary-reported aircrafts altitude changes

Streamlining and automating the backend processing, which estimates the ocean wave directional spectra from the surface elevations

Development of the software for transmission of data products from the NOAA P-3 to NHC via satellite internet link.

March 1, 2011 565th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

Flight into KarlLessons learned

All the parts of the WSRA software were successfully tested, including the transmitting

of the data to AOC

WSRA hardware can sustain data processing in real-time

Several adjustments to various processing parameters to improve the robustness of

the unattended operation of the WSRA system

Hardware issues that occurred during the flight led us to the re-design of the WSRA

electronics (RF section), which was completed in the post-season

Necessity to receive additional auxiliary information from the aircraft’s data system.

Updated information on the eye fixes and/or VORTEX messages

Frequency of reporting wave spectra to NHC should be variable depending on the

aircraft distance from the eye of the hurricane

Wave spectra products updated should vary between 5 minutes at the edge of the

hurricane to 30 minutes while flying through eye of the hurricane

March 1, 2011 65th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference 6

Flight into KarlMost important lesson learned

Operating from 12,000 feet provides WSRA data with marginal quality. For good quality WSRA data the aircraft’s altitude should not exceed 10,000 feet. Good quality data critical for unattended operation – no human editing available Rain attenuation more detrimental

Cleaner topography and better wave spectra at 8,000’ altitude as opposed to 12,000’ Note to the NOAA flight director: We recommend / request flying at 8,000 feet when

operating WSRA.

March 1, 2011 65th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference 7

Hurricane Karl 16 SEP 2010 3.8 km altitude Hurricane Ike 11 SEP 2008 2.4 km altitude

WSRA Transfer & Display data products at NHC

From onboard FTP site WSRA spectra automatically transmitted to FTP site at AOC WSRA data transmission from aircraft while on ground was successful WSRA data transmission from aircraft in-flight tested, but data received at AOC were scrambled. Need

additional testing to identify the problems For the next hurricane season, AOC will incorporate the WSRA data into their standard aircraft data

package

WSRA application running at NHC on the JHT server (Muskie) download spectra as they become available on the AOC FTP site. Not tested with live data; successfully tested in simulation

WSRA data displayed on NMAP2 within NAWIPS Not tested with live data; successfully tested in simulation

March 1, 2011 8

Transfer scripts and display developed and tested under JHT Funding FY08 to Dr. Walsh

65rd Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

Poster IComparison wave spectra from Hurricane Ike from model Wave Watch III with WSRA data

The poster will show segments of WSRA wave topography throughout Hurricane Ike and detailed comparisons of the resulting directional wave spectra with the WW3 model predictions.

For most parts of Hurricane Ike, the WSRA and WW3 SWH values were nearly the same. WW3 SWH averaged 1.2% lower with a standard deviation of 4%.

Recently modified WSRA algorithm used to estimate range-to-surface in all beams-produced wave spectra with lower wave heights estimates, thus making the difference even smaller then 1%.

March 1, 2011 65th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference 9

Poster II Storm Surge Measurement Potential of the Wide Swath Radar Altimeter

Capability of providing operational, targeted measurements of storm surge for landfalling hurricanes Measurement of storm surge consist of subtracting the absolute altitude of the aircraft determined

using the Global Positioning System (GPS) from the WSRA-measured distance to the sea surface Absolute range calibration of the WSRA can be determined and maintained during the flights using

tide gauges within Tampa Bay when returning from each operation as well as flying by tide gauges in the vicinity of the landfall

March 1, 2011 65th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference 10

Left panel shows contours of geodic height relative to the ellipsoid in the Tampa Bay area. Right panel shows the GPS measured aircraft height above the ellipsoid

along the straight 5-km flight segment yellow-highlighted in the left panel.

Curves show the aircraft pitch (blue) and roll (red) variation for the highlighted flight segment over Tampa Bay and dots represent the residual error ERES as defined in equation above .

ERES = RWSRA - hGPS - C

WSRA Development Funded by JHT ProgramTitle: In-Flight Data Processing for the Wide Swath Radar Altimeter (WSRA) for Real Time Reporting of Directional Ocean Wave Spectra from the NOAA WP-3D Hurricane Reconnaissance Aircraft

Continued analysis of data collected during the 2008 season (storms Fay, Gustav and Ike) to aid development of the optimized WSRA processing code.

Development of the WSRA algorithm to extract range-to-surface during significant roll maneuvers of the aircraft of the roll correction

Acquisition of the in-flight processing computer Spring 2011 verification test flight (repeat of the test flight on March 2010 )

Testing WSRA data quality against the varying aircraft parameters

Testing transmission of data products from the NOAA P-3 to NHC via satellite internet link. Support of the WSRA operation during the 2011 hurricane season Conduct absolute range calibration of the WSRA on flight approaches to the McDill AFB Completion of a turnkey WSRA system development Operation of the turnkey antonymous WSRA during the 2011 hurricane season

March 1, 2011 1165rd Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

Unattended processing on the Fly is

The End