Objective satellite methods including AI algorithms reviewed for the tenth International workshop on tropical cyclones (IWTC-10)

Abstract

Here we explore the latest four years (2019–2022) of using satellite data to objectively analyze tropical cyclones (TC) and issue recommendations for improved analysis. We first discuss new methods of direct retrieval from SAR and geostationary imagers. Next, we survey some of the most prominent new techniques in AI and discuss their major capabilities (especially accuracy in nonlinear TC behavior, characterization of model uncertainty and creation of synthetic satellite imagery) and limitations (especially lack of transparency and limited amount of training data). We also identify concerns with biases and unlabeled uncertainties in the Best Track records as being a first-order limitation for further progress in objective methods. The article concludes with recommendations to improve future objective methods, especially in the area of more accurate and reliable training data sets.