Direct In-Situ Oceanographic Observations of Tropical Cyclones from Instrumented Sea Turtles

Forecasts of tropical cyclones protect lives and livelihoods. However, the ability to forecast storm intensity is limited by a lack of sub-surface ocean observations, particularly in shallow seas and around vulnerable developing nations. We present observations from a novel observing platform, instrumented sea turtles, of the ocean response to five tropical storms that formed in shallow seas north of Australia. The turtle-based observations captured key processes, such as ocean cooling due to mixing of the water column. Comparison with a state-of-the-art ocean reanalysis demonstrates the value of the turtle observations: the reanalysis underestimates the cooling of the ocean surface, resulting in underestimation of air-sea feedbacks. Our results suggest that turtle-based observations have the potential to improve tropical cyclone forecasts. Expansion of this program could provide cost-effective oceanographic information needed to improve tropical cyclone forecasts.