The generation of kinetic energy in tropical cyclones revisited

Abstract

Many previous diagnoses of the global kinetic energy for a tropical cyclone have given prominence to a global integral of a pressure-work term in the generation of kinetic energy. However, in his erudite textbook of atmospheric and oceanic dynamics, Gill (1982) derives a form of the kinetic energy equation in which there is no such explicit source term. In this paper we revisit the interpretations of the generation of kinetic energy given previously in the light of Gill's analysis and compare the various interpretations, which are non-unique.Further, even though global energetics provide a constraint on the flow evolution, in the context of the kinetic energy equation, they conceal important aspects of energy generation and consumption, a finding that highlights the limitations of a global kinetic energy budget in revealing the underlying dynamics of tropical cyclones.