Evaluation of In-situ observations on Marine Weather Observer during the Typhoon Sinlaku

Abstract. The mobile ocean weather observation system, named Marine Weather Observer (MWO), developed by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), consists of a fully solar-powered, unmanned vehicle and meteorological and hydrological instruments. One of the MWOs completed a long-term continuous observation, actively approaching the Typhoon Sinlaku center from July 24 to August 2, 2020, over the South China Sea. The in-situ and high temporal resolution(1-min) observations obtained from MWO were analyzed and evaluated by comparing with the observations made by two types of buoys during the evolution of Typhoon Sinlaku. First, the air pressure and wind speed measured by MWO are in good agreement with those measured by the buoys before the typhoon, reflecting the equivalent measurement capabilities of the two methods under normal sea conditions. The sea surface temperature (SST) between MWO and the mooring buoys is highly consistent throughout the observation period and even less difference after the typhoon's arrival, indicating the high stability and accuracy of SST measurements from MWO during the typhoon evolution. The air temperature and relative humidity measured by MWO have significant diurnal variations, generally lower than those measured by the buoys, which may be related to the mounting height of the sensor. When actively approaching the typhoon center, the air pressure from MWO can reflect some drastic and subtle changes, such as a sudden drop to 980 hPa, which is difficult to obtain by other observation methods. As a mobile meteorological and oceanographic observation station, MWO has shown its unique advantages over traditional observation methods, and the results preliminary demonstrate the reliable observation capability of MWO in this paper.