A TIROS III view of Hurricane Betsy (1961)

Abstract

It has already been amply demonstrated (Krueger and Fritz, 1961; Fritz and Winston, 1962; Rao and Winston,1963 and others) that television pictures and infrared radiation measurements from satellites can be used in synoptic analysis, and that these observations are especially valuable for the location of hurricane and other disturbances in the "blank" areas of the tropical oceans (Dunn and Staff, 1962; Fritz, 1962). The problem of hurricane formation is one on which satellites may be expected to throw considerable light, not only because hurricanes form so frequently in otherwise unobserved areas, but also because of the truly "synoptic" view that the satellite presents. An effort has been made in this study to examine the natal and pre-natal stages of Hurricane Betsy (1961) through analysis of cloud pictures and infrared radiation measurements from TIROS III. Because of inherent limitations of the TIROS system the investigation was not entirely successful. However, it does provide an example of the potential value of satellite observations in tropical meteorology.