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    • Data from Barotropic Instability During Eyewall Replacement on 2017-09-20 (NCEI Accession 0304466)

    Metadata Updated: March 1, 2026

    Prior to landfall in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria (2017) underwent an eyewall replacement cycle. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) San Juan (TJUA) radar captured a robust outer convective ring with an inner ring first distorted into an ellipse and then disintegrated. To understand the dynamical processes during eyewall replacement, this work interprets the eyewall replacement event using the non-divergent barotropic model with a linear stability analysis and non-linear numerical simulations. For the linear stability analysis, the model’s axisymmetric basic state vorticity distribution is piece-wise uniform in five regions: eye, inner eyewall, moat, outer eyewall, and far field. The stability of such structures is investigated by solving a simple eigenvalue/eigenvector problem. For the non-linear model, the evolution into a more stable structure is simulated using the non-linear barotropic model. Three types of instability and vorticity rearrangement are identified: (1) instability across the outer ring of enhanced vorticity, (2) instability across the low vorticity moat, and (3) instability across the inner ring of enhanced vorticity. This dataset includes (1) a loop of the NOAA TJUA radar during the landfall of Hurricane Maria (2017) in GIF format to show the convective evolution, (2) the output from the five-region linear stability analysis in NetCDF format, and (3) the output from the non-divergent barotropic model in NetCDF format and GIF format to show the vortex evolution. These data are provided without restrictions for further exploration into understanding barotropic instability during eyewall replacement.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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    Dates

    Metadata Date 2026-02-06T16:03:13Z
    Metadata Created Date June 1, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date March 1, 2026
    Reference Date(s) May 30, 2025 (publication), May 20, 2025 (creation)
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Preview graphic

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date 2026-02-06T16:03:13Z
    Metadata Created Date June 1, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date March 1, 2026
    Reference Date(s) May 30, 2025 (publication), May 20, 2025 (creation)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nodc:0304466
    Access Constraints Cite as: Slocum, Chris; Taft, Richard; Kossin, James; Schubert, Wayne (2025). Data from Barotropic Instability During Eyewall Replacement on 2017-09-20 (NCEI Accession 0304466). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/yxh4-4q58. Accessed [date]., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long -62
    Bbox North Lat 20
    Bbox South Lat 15
    Bbox West Long -68
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded
    Graphic Preview Description Preview graphic
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0304466
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id 69934619-316b-4a70-b46a-2540cb9d34fa
    Harvest Source Id c084a438-6f6b-470d-93e0-16aeddb9f513
    Harvest Source Title NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions
    Licence accessLevel: Public
    Lineage
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-68.0, 15.0], [-62.0, 15.0], [-62.0, 20.0], [-68.0, 20.0], [-68.0, 15.0]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2017-09-20
    Temporal Extent End 2017-09-20

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