Within a mature tropical cyclone, it is found within the eyewall at a certain distance from the center, known as the radius of maximum wind, or RMW.
[5] The extent of spiral banding and difference in temperature between the eye and eyewall is used within the technique to assign a maximum sustained wind and pressure.
The tracking of individual clouds on minutely satellite imagery could be used in the future in estimating surface winds speeds for tropical cyclones.
In the Atlantic as well as the Central and Eastern Pacific basins, reconnaissance aircraft are still utilized to fly through tropical cyclones to determine flight level winds, which can then be adjusted to provide a fairly reliable estimate of maximum sustained winds.
[8] Doppler weather radar can be used in the same manner to determine surface winds with tropical cyclones near land.