Editorial: Tropical Cyclone Modeling and Prediction: Advances in Model Development and Its Applications

Xuejin Zhang^1*VIJAY TALLAPRAGADA²Zhan Zhang²Avichal Mehra³

• ¹Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (NOAA), Miami, United States
• ²NCEP Environmental Modeling Center (EMC), College Park, Maryland, United States
• ³NCEP Ocean Prediction Center, College Park, MD, United States

The research theme in this special collection is intended to systematically document the latest advancements in TC modeling and applications, with focus on improved physical parameterizations, better understanding of the physical processes, advanced data assimilation techniques, improved use of new and innovative observations, development of the holistic end-to-end forecast systems, enhanced TC related products, and improved social and behavioral sciences for interpreting the model forecasts.Four different TC modeling systems developed in the USA were featured in this collection, comprising of the Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System (HAFS), the new-generation operational model at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecast model (HWRF), the legacy hurricane prediction system at NOAA and is still in operations, System for High-resolution prediction on Earth-to-Local Domains (SHiELD), an advanced research model developed by NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model developed by National Science Foundation (NSF)'s National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Common to many of these modeling systems is the need for higher resolution for explicit representation of convection, dynamic coupling of atmospheric and ocean models, better representation of initial TC location, structure and intensity through vortex initialization and data assimilation, and enhanced verification and validation metrics. The objective of this special issue is to share research ideas, development advancements, and scientific insights made by TC research scientists with support from broader inter-disciplinary communities across the globe for improving our ability to understand and predict TCs and their impacts with higher accuracy and skill. We hope that this special edition will serve as a reflection of the state-of-the-art of current TC science, and a valuable reference for researchers in this field.