Satellite tools to monitor and predict Hurricane Sandy (2012): Current and emerging products

Hurricane Sandy – a tropical cyclone that transitioned into an extratropical cyclone near the time of landfall along the east coast of the United States – caused historic damage in many regions which rarely receive such a direct hit from a storm of this magnitude, including many of the large metropolitan areas along the U.S. eastern seaboard. Specifically, Sandy generated record low-pressure, a large wind field with corresponding storm surge and copious amounts of precipitation in some areas, including record snowfall in mountainous regions. Sandy presented several forecast challenges to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS). Satellites played an integral role in the analysis and forecast of Sandy's track and intensity. The NOAA National Hurricane Center, Ocean Prediction Center, and Weather Prediction Center all relied on information from satellites to make critical warning decisions using various satellite products that assist with diagnosing tropical cyclone intensity, surface winds over the ocean, and heavy precipitation. All of the skillful global forecast models used satellite data for initiation to better forecast the track and intensity of Sandy. As part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite — R-series (GOES-R) and Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Proving Ground activities, new satellite products were available to forecasters at these national centers in experimental form to assist with observing this unique, high impact event. This paper will demonstrate how the current satellite products assisted NOAA forecasters during Sandy and introduce some new satellite products that could be used to analyze and predict future high impact weather systems.