Mesoscale interactions in tropical cyclone genesis
dc.contributor.author | Simpson, J. | |
dc.contributor.author | Ritchie, E. | |
dc.contributor.author | Halverson, J. | |
dc.contributor.author | Stewart, S. | |
dc.contributor.author | Holland, G. J. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2015-10-01T18:30:14Z | |
dc.date.available | 2015-10-01T18:30:14Z | |
dc.date.issued | 1997-10 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Monthly Weather Review, vol. 125, October 1997, pp. 2643-2661 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10945/46781 | |
dc.description.abstract | With the multitude of cloud clusters over tropical oceans, is has been perplexing that so few develop into tropical cyclones. the authors postulate that a major obstacle has been the complexity of scale interactions particularly those on the mesoscale, which have only recently been observable. While there are well-known climatological requirements, these are by no means sufficient. A major reason for this rarity is the essentially stochastic nature of the mesoscale interactions that precede and contribute to cyclone development. Observations exist for only a few forming cases. In these, the moist convection in the preformation environment is organized into mesoscale convective systems, each of which have associated mesoscale potential vortices in the midlevels. Interactions between these systems may lead to merger, growth to the surface, and development of both the nascent eye and inner rainbands of a tropical cyclone. The process is essentially stochastic, but the degree of stochasticity can be reduced by the continued interaction of the mesoscale systems or by environmental influences. For example, a monsoon trough provides a region of reduced deformation radius, which substantially improves the efficiency of mesoscale vortex interactions and the amplitude of the merged vortices. Further, a strong monsoon trough provides a vertical wind shear that enables long-lived midlevel mesoscale vortices that are able to maintain, or even redevelop, the associated convective system. The authors develop this hypothesis by use of a detailed case study of the formation of Tropical Cyclone Oliver observed during TOGA COASRE (1993). In this case, two dominant mesoscale vortices interacted with a monsoon trough to separately produce a nascent eye and a major rainband. The eye developed on the edge of the major convective system, and the associated atmospheric warming was provided almost entirely by moist processes in the upper atmosphere, and by a combination of latent heating and adiabatic subsidence in the lower development of two typhoons in the western North Pacific. | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | This research has been partially supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant N00014-94-1-049. The NASA effort was supported by Goddard Task 460-23-54-20 from Dr. Ramesh Kakar with the Mission to Planet Earth | en_US |
dc.format.extent | 18 p. | en_US |
dc.publisher | American Meteology Society | en_US |
dc.rights | This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States. | en_US |
dc.title | Mesoscale interactions in tropical cyclone genesis | en_US |
dc.type | Presentation | en_US |
dc.contributor.corporate | Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.) | en_US |
dc.contributor.department | Department of Meteorology | en_US |
dc.description.funder | This research has been partially supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant N00014-94-1-049. The NASA effort was supported by Goddard Task 460-23-54-20 from Dr. Ramesh Kakar with the Mission to Planet Earth | en_US |
dc.description.distributionstatement | Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. |