Research Guidance on Tropical Cyclones (Hurricanes)

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Discussion Overview

The discussion focuses on research guidance related to the study of hurricane Katrina, specifically examining the wind force associated with the hurricane. Participants explore methodologies for data collection, modeling, and visualization, as well as software recommendations for analysis.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • An undergraduate student outlines a process for studying the wind force of hurricane Katrina, including data collection on latitude and longitude, plotting wind speed, and creating a topography graph.
  • Some participants emphasize the importance of understanding the force level and extent of the hurricane, noting that the eye of the hurricane has low to zero wind speed and that wind speeds vary with height.
  • One participant suggests that the student consider using MATLAB or Java for programming, while another mentions Mathematica and its challenges for the student.
  • A participant proposes a new plan involving the creation of a multivariable function to describe the hurricane's path and a contour graph to visualize wind movement over time, but expresses confusion about creating an opposing multivariable function.
  • Recommendations for software include MATLAB, R, Freemat as an open-source alternative to MATLAB, and Julia for modeling and simulation.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the need for a comprehensive understanding of hurricane dynamics, including wind speed variations and modeling approaches. However, there is no consensus on the specific methodologies or software to be used, and multiple competing views on the best tools and approaches remain.

Contextual Notes

Participants note limitations regarding the availability of force level data and the complexity of modeling hurricane dynamics, particularly in creating multivariable functions and visualizations.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for undergraduate students or researchers interested in meteorology, specifically those studying hurricanes and wind dynamics, as well as those seeking software recommendations for data analysis and visualization.

Selfless_Gene
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Hello,

I am undergraduate student doing research and I am studying hurricane Katrina my completed math course is Calculus 3 which is up to Vector calculus. For my research I want study only wind force of the hurricane Katrina and I have a process but I want to know if its valid and what program I could use to accomplish this.

Process:

1. Collect the data on lat and long of path of the hurricane and plot the wind speed (velocity ) at those long. lat. points .

2. Once I input my data I want to obtain a vector function that describes the wind force.

3. Then i would like to transform several points on the path into a topography graph where we can see color indicators of strong winds.

4. Finally, I want apply a force in this path that can reduce the wind force and obtain a function describing the wind force.

Thank You for your time
 
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You have given a good overview however to really solve the problem you'll need to know the force level and extent of the hurricane in addition to its path.

If you recall the lat/lon of the hurricane will be with respect to its eye. However, the eye of the hurricane has very low to zero wind speed.

Hurricanes also have a 3D structure where the winds are different at different heights. There is a water/rainfall component and a spinoff tornado component to be concerned with too.

Here's a more detailed model which I realize is beyond what you want to do but may give you some insight as to what you'll need in your model:

https://www.casact.org/education/rpm/2015/handouts/Paper_4071_handout_2487_0.pdf

and this site:

http://www.hurricanescience.org/science/forecast/models/modeltypes/dynamicalmodels/

and this site for 3D modeling:

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/met/Faculty/businger/courses/notes200/15HurricaneStructure.pdf

So I guess you get to pick and choose what you want to model.

What programming will you be using? Matlab or Java...
 
jedishrfu said:
You have given a good overview however to really solve the problem you'll need to know the force level and extent of the hurricane in addition to its path.

If you recall the lat/lon of the hurricane will be with respect to its eye. However, the eye of the hurricane has very low to zero wind speed.

Hurricanes also have a 3D structure where the winds are different at different heights. There is a water/rainfall component and a spinoff tornado component to be concerned with too.

Here's a more detailed model which I realize is beyond what you want to do but may give you some insight as to what you'll need in your model:

https://www.casact.org/education/rpm/2015/handouts/Paper_4071_handout_2487_0.pdf

and this site:

http://www.hurricanescience.org/science/forecast/models/modeltypes/dynamicalmodels/

and this site for 3D modeling:

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/met/Faculty/businger/courses/notes200/15HurricaneStructure.pdf

So I guess you get to pick and choose what you want to model.

What programming will you be using? Matlab or Java...

Thank you for your response and feedback it was very helpful. I've been using mathematica but it requires programming knowledge and its been diffcult for me to understand. I am going to look into MAT LAB now. Is there any program you recommend? I don't have the data of force level but the speed of the hurricane at that specific points of lat and long.

Also may i have your insights on a new plan i am proposing

1. create a multivariable function from f(lat, long) that describes the hurricanes path during time interval.

2. Use the multivariable function to create a countor graph that shows how the wind is moving over time.

3. Create a opposing multivariable function. (this portion is confusing I've never attempted this )

Does my steps make sense are they valid?

Thank You
 
If MATLAB is available for you to use, it is excellent. If you are on a limited budget or want to use a statistical package that is easily available, then you should consider R. It is free and well respected. There are R packages for geographic plots (see https://cran.r-project.org/doc/contrib/intro-spatial-rl.pdf )
 
Download freemat from the SourceForge website:

http://freemat.sourceforge.net/

Freemat is an open source Matlab clone mimicing core Matlab capability. I’ve used it a lot for quick plots and calculations. Matlab though comes with many toolkits that make life easier in certain computational domains like modeling and simulation,

There’s also Julia and the notebook interface from the anaconda distribution. Julia is very similar to Matlab but is open source and works well with other modeling languages and tools. There is a charting library as well.

Check this site for details:

https://lectures.quantecon.org/jl/
 

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