TC-OBS Database | About the TC-OBS Database

About the Tropical Cyclone Observations-Based Structure (TC-OBS) Database

The final phase of this RPI-funded project used the VDM+ and FLIGHT+ Datasets to build a new historical database of tropical cyclone track, intensity, size, and structure parameters that have significantly higher temporal and spatial resolution than the current HURDAT2/Best Track dataset. The goal is not to replace HURDAT2, but rather to provide an objective, observations-based database of tropical cyclone parameters that is best-suited for wind risk applications.

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Use the links below to learn more about the attributes of the database, to get documentation on the database structure and parameters, to download the database, to see validation plots comparing the new TC-OBS data parameters to reference Best Track parameters, and to find references.

Attributes of the new historical database
Documentation
Download the database
Applications & visualizations (validation plots)
References

Attributes of the new historical database

The TC-OBS Database includes the following attributes:

Revised/refined observations-based estimates of track (position)
Revised/refined observations-based estimates of intensity
Revised/refined observations-based estimates for radius of maximum wind (RMW)
Revised/refined observations-based estimates of size (wind radii)
Time-dependent observations-based uncertainty bounds for track (position)
Time-dependent observations-based uncertainty bounds for intensity
Time-dependent observations-based uncertainty bounds for RMW
Time-dependent observations-based uncertainty bounds for size (wind radii) in each quadrant of the cyclone
Azimuthal mean wind speed (an alternative to the traditional intensity metric)
Spatial and temporal coherence of the location of maximum wind
All data provided at 1-hour temporal frequency (compared with 6-hourly for HURDAT2)
All asynoptic time points included in HURDAT2 are also included (including all landfall times)
Track data given at higher precision than the 0.1 deg used in HURDAT2
Ancillary parameters that indicate distance to land, translation speed/direction, and whether the cyclone was over land
Various cyclone-level metadata
Validation plots for all cyclones in the database for each of the primary data parameters

Notably, the TC-OBS Database includes wind radii for not only the 34-kt, 50-kt, and 64-kt wind speed tresholds included in HURDAT2, but also for the wind speed tresholds marking the boundaries between all of the Saffir-Simpson hurricane categories:

83-kt (Cat1/2)
96-kt (Cat 2/3)
113-kt (Cat 3/4)
137-kt (Cat 4/5)

For sake of reference, the full complement of the HURDAT2/Best Track database parameters are also included in the TC-OBS Database. Nearly all of the additional non-"Best Track" parameters found in the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecast (ATCF) system b-decks. Where the b-decks are missing values in the early period, values have been filled in from the Extended Best Track dataset.

This page was last updated 09 February 2018 by Jonathan Vigh

What's New in the New Historical Database?

09 February 2018

The TC-OBS Database (v0.42) is now available to the public as an alpha-level release. Although the objective state estimation alogorithms used in TC-OBS (which blend the observations into the various database parameters) definitely need some more work, and there are issues with specific parameters for certain storms, the benefit of making this database available to researchers seems to outweigh the potential disadvantages. Users are strongly encouraged to check the quality control plots before using the data for any particular storm. Please also check the known issues page to see if any issues have been been reported for the storms of interest. To download the database, please click here.

21 January 2016

The final release version of the TC-OBS Database has now been built and is available for download by the RPI member companies. The database will be released to the public toward the end of 2016.

19 January 2016

All methods have now been finalized, improving the time-dependent uncertainty bounds for intensity and track, and adding new observations-based parameters for the radius of maximum wind, spatial and temporal coherence of the maximum wind location, and for the wind radii. A final version of the TC-OBS Database is being built for delivery to the RPI member companies.

28 December 2015

Methods have been finalized for the track and intensity parameters. Extensive validation activities are underway to ascertain the quality of the new TC-OBS parameters.

04 December 2015

Work is underway to design the numerical methods used for estimating the various observations-based parameters of the new historical database.

25 September 2014

Initial work has begun on the code infrastructure that will be used to bring in the available observations and build the new historical database. Initial results were presented at the annual RPI Research Update Workshop in Hamilton, Bermuda.

28 August 2014

The third source dataset (QSCAT-R) has now been released to the RPI member companies.

22 August 2014

The second source dataset (FLIGHT+) has now been released to the RPI member companies.

01 December 2013

The first source dataset (VDM+) has now been released to the RPI member companies. Work on the other two source datasets is underway.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.