Frequently Asked Questions and Their Answers
In reference to the storm centered variables section of your site, what exactly do you mean by axial, coronal, and sagittal cross sections?
Figure 1 illustrates the orientation of the slices inquired of above. The coronal cross sections parallel lines of latitude while sagittal parallel lines of longitude. The axial slices are provided to allow one to visualize the internal dynamics associated with a given variable. Therefore, the perspectives presented in the 6 km grid resolution analyses allow the user the opportunity to follow the trends and physics behind certain variables within a given TC event.
Figure 1: Illustration of the various cross sections provided for a given TC event. The gray regions represent the generic structure of a tropical cyclone. The colored cross sections are indicative of a TC in that the most intense winds surround the center of circulation. With the three vantage points (i.e. axial, coronal, & sagittal), a 3D visualization of a given variable is possible.
Sometimes you have a set of model analysis posted but some of the components such as the basin or storm centered analyses are not posted. Why is that?
There are a variety of reasons for this. The first may be that a given TC event is outside our domain of interest. Therefore, providing analyses centered on the basin become not very useful. Generally, in this case, we will provide analysis for the domain variables of SST and vertical wind shear. Since we utilize three grids for the creation of the analyses, it can happen that a storm exists in one of the nested grids while not in the other (typically all TCs illustrated can be found in the 18 km grid resolution domian, but since the 6 km grid covers only the Gulf of Mexico region, TCs may not be captured in the 6 km grid resolution domian.