Identifying replicated storms
An automated algorithm was developed to identify storms tracked by multiple centers by sorting storms in time and space. Any observations at identical times and within 111 kilometers (~1 degree latitude) were identified as identical storms.
Once a TC was identified as unique, a storm serial number was created which distinctively numbers the storm. The storm's serial identification number contains detailed storm information specific to its genesis: calendar year, day of the year, hemisphere (N or S), and latitude and longitude. While six major basins are provided in the data, the uniqueness of the storm serial identification number advocates that any individual or research group can compute regionally-specific statistics based on their own basin-boundary definitions.
