Tropical cyclone boundary layer rolls derived from SAR

In this work we present a proposed procedure for retrieving large aspect ratio roll vortices in tropical cyclone wind fields over the ocean from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. Preliminary results are shown for one RADARSAT-2 image of super typhoon Megi. We use surface-layer pressure-corrected high-resolution surface wind vector fields as input to a boundary layer model in order to retrieve estimates of the vertical wind distribution in the lowest 1-2 km of the tropical cyclone. Preliminary results show evidence of large aspect ratio rolls, whose wavelengths correspond to results shown in previous works. Further analysis of these profiles will help to improve the understanding of air-sea interaction under these extreme conditions.