Hurricane generated waves as observed by satellite

Abstract

A data set consisting of observations of significant wave height and wind speed within mature hurricanes has been obtained from the GEOSAT satellite mission. Due to the global coverage of the satellite, this data set is extensive, consisting of 100 hurricanes. In addition, as the satellite rapidly propagates across the region influenced by the hurricane wind field, an almost instantaneous cross-section through the hurricane is observed. These features mean that the data set is significantly more comprehensive than those previously presented. The observations confirm the importance of both the maximum wind speed within the hurricane and the velocity of forward movement in determining the magn..