Taiwanese data buoys to improve typhoon forecast accuracy

Taipei, April 25 (CNA) An unprecedented dataset collected in the Northwest Pacific using Taiwanese-designed ocean observation buoys, will help improve future typhoon forecast accuracy, National Taiwan University (NTU) said Thursday.

The two buoys, named NTU1 and NTU2, are the second generation of environment-observing and data-capturing devices that have been developed and improved upon since early 2015 by a research team led by Yang Yiing-jang (楊穎堅), an NTU associate professor in oceanography, according to the university.

Since 2015, the buoys have observed 10 typhoons, including Super Typhoon Nepartak in 2016, Yang said at a Thursday press conference.

The buoys were able to capture unprecedented high-resolution image data on the properties and dynamics of the typhoons, as well as real-time observations, he noted.

Supplemented with satellite observation data supplied by the Central Weather Bureau, it is hoped that such data will lead to improvements in numerical forecasting models, thereby increasing the accuracy and timeliness of typhoon forecasts, he added.

Yang said the research team is working to establish a buoy network in the Northwest Pacific.

The team also plans to establish an observation network with other typhoon-prone countries such as the Philippines and Japan in the future, he added.

According to NTU, the two buoys observed Typhoon Nepartak from their respective locations, which were only a few kilometers from the typhoon's eye.

Based on the data provided by the buoys, NTU published a research paper titled "The Role of Enhanced Velocity Shears in Rapid Ocean Cooling During Super Typhoon Nepartak 2016" in the April issue of Nature Communications, the world's leading multi-discipline open access journal.