TC-ATLAS — Tropical Cyclone Analysis Tool for Live and Archived Structure

Airborne Doppler Radar

Post-processed NOAA P-3 tail Doppler radar analyses providing full 3D wind fields, reflectivity, and derived vortex diagnostics via the TC-RADAR database.

Passive Microwave Satellite

Multi-sensor microwave imagery from the TC-PRIMED dataset, revealing precipitation structure and convective organization.

Infrared Satellite

Geostationary IR brightness temperatures from GridSat-B1, MergIR, and real-time GOES ABI Band 13 imagery for cloud-top structure.

ERA5 Reanalysis

Monthly-mean and per-year ERA5 fields (SST, MPI, wind, moisture, MSE, PV, deep-layer shear) on a 3D globe via the TC Climatology page. Composite TC seasons by climate index, custom year/month, or per-pixel correlation.

SHIPS Diagnostics

Operational SHIPS model parameters — vertical wind shear, mid-level RH, ocean heat content, and forecast environment context — surfaced inline on each storm's detail card.

In-situ Observations

Flight-level data and GPS dropsonde profiles from NOAA reconnaissance missions via the SEB archives.

Best-Track Records

Storm tracks, intensity, and classification from IBTrACS v04 for comprehensive historical context across all ocean basins.

May 16, 2026

Real-Time Monitor overhaul: new unified Layers panel on the right edge collapses the old stack of separate buttons into one trigger with FORECAST / ANALYSIS / WIND BARBS sections and a live count badge. The Environmental Analysis menu now includes 500 hPa geopotential heights (3 dam contours) alongside shear, vorticity, RH, and SST. DeepMind FNV3 cyclogenesis probability (2/7/14-day) was reworked into an NHC-TWO-style radius-integrated metric with a chunked colorbar so individual probability tiers are easy to read. Wind barbs now have a dark halo for legibility, all overlays tile across the dateline, the global IR animation accepts keyboard scrubbing (←/→/space/+/−), and a one-click Save PNG exports the current map view.

May 16, 2026

New Subseasonal Modulation subview on the TC Climatology page: TC genesis frequency, track-point density, and RI rate binned by daily 8-phase MJO and BSISO indices. Switch between MJO (Wheeler–Hendon RMM) and OLR-based OMI (Kiladis 2014), or compare BSISO1 (30–60 d northward) vs BSISO2 (10–30 d NW). Click any phase tile to drill in: larger map, per-phase RI rate vs climatology, top RI episodes, and the 24-h Δwind distribution. Year-range, basin, and season filters cascade through every chart. Four BSISO PC monthly indices were also added to the Reanalysis Globe composite builder.

May 7, 2026

Site-wide visual refresh: new TC-ATLAS logomark on University of Miami’s green and orange palette, light theme by default with an optional dark mode, and a cleaner light basemap for the global storm-track maps.

May 5, 2026

New TC Climatology page brings IBTrACS best-track statistics (ACE, peak-intensity, RI, LMI, seasonal cycles by basin) together with the interactive ERA5 Reanalysis Globe — composite by 14 climate indices (RONI, ONI, AMO, NPGO, SAM, IOD…), per-pixel correlation maps, and 13,500+ IBTrACS tracks overlaid. A featured-views gallery jumps you straight into TC-relevant scenes.

May 5, 2026

TC-RADAR Explorer enhancements: TC center marker with lat/lon on hover across the plan view, aircraft Lat/Lon hover in flight-level overlays on all three TC pages, slimmer FL hover cards, and a Wind/W toggle on the FL time-series with TDR vertical-velocity interpolated to flight-level points.

Apr 27, 2026

ERA5 Reanalysis Globe extracted into its own dedicated page with a new Index Correlation panel (ACE per basin, sliding-30 anomalies, p-value masking) and improved Composite Builder with synthetic-field support.

Apr 16, 2026

Home page refresh: live activity strip, "Popular starting points" quick-start row, and featured-case onboarding on the TC-RADAR Explorer. Refined visual hierarchy and role-based color palette across the site.

Apr 15, 2026

IR Hovmöller diagrams (time × radius brightness-temperature) added to every storm in the Global Archive + Compare pages, with adjustable coverage thresholds, colormap sync, and PNG export.

Apr 14, 2026

Objective IR eye-center finding — automated center estimation with symmetry-based quality gates; rejected candidates now rendered as orange crosshairs for full diagnostic transparency.

Apr 13, 2026

Real-time NEXRAD 88D ground-radar overlay on the Real-Time Monitor and Storm Satellite views, with storm-relative reflectivity, velocity, and animated GIF export.

Apr 11, 2026

ASCAT surface-wind barbs overlaid on the Real-Time Monitor map for verified radar/microwave cross-comparison with scatterometer winds.

Apr 7, 2026

Real-time microwave Tb overlay on the Real-Time Monitor map (89 GHz PCT + 37 GHz color) pulled from TC-PRIMED overpasses.

TC-RADAR Dataset

Fischer, M. S., P. D. Reasor, R. F. Rogers, and J. F. Gamache, 2022: An updated tropical cyclone radar database. Mon. Wea. Rev., 150, 2255–2278, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-21-0223.1.

Vortex Tilt & Precipitation Structure

Fischer, M. S., P. D. Reasor, J. P. Dunion, and R. F. Rogers, 2024: An observational analysis of the relationship between tropical cyclone vortex tilt, precipitation structure, and intensity change. Mon. Wea. Rev., 152, 203–225, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-23-0089.1.

Anomaly-Based Vortex Diagnostics

Fischer, M. S., P. D. Reasor, J. P. Dunion, and R. F. Rogers, 2025: An anomaly-based framework for evaluating tropical cyclone vortex structure. Mon. Wea. Rev., 153, 857–875, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-24-0101.1.

TC-ATLAS Web Tool

TC-ATLAS: Tropical Cyclone Analysis Tool for Live and Archived Structure. Available at https://tcatlas.org/