Roy Spencer
En 1978, Spencer obtuvo un B.S. en ciencias atmosféricas de la Universidad de Míchigan, y su M.S. y luego el Ph.D. en Meteorología por la Universidad de Wisconsin-Madison en 1980 y 1982. Spencer diseñó un algoritmo para detectar ciclones tropicales y estimar su velocidad máxima sostenida del viento utilizando el "Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit" (Sonar mejorado de microondas) (AMSU) en la Universidad de Alabama en Huntsville. Dicho AMSU es un radiómetro de microondas que puede ser usado para detectar temperaturas a diferentes niveles de la atmósfera. Sobre la base de los gradientes de las mediciones de temperatura en un área determinada, es posible calcular la velocidad máxima sostenida del viento radial.
Observación de ciclón tropical
For centuries, people have sailed the world's oceans and seas, and for just as long, they have encountered storms. The worst of the cyclones over the open seas likely took those that observed them into the depths of the oceans. However, some did survive to report harrowing tales. Before the invention of the wireless telegraph in 1905, reports about storms at sea either coincided with their arrival at the coast as ships scrambled into port, or came weeks and months afterwards from remote ports of call. Ship and buoy reports, available since the 1970s, are used in real-time not only for their temperature, pressure, and wind measurements, but also for their sea surface temperature and wave height measurements.