Integrated Kinetic Energy in North Atlantic Tropical Cyclones: Climatology, Analysis, and Seasonal Applications

Abstract

Integrated Kinetic Energy (IKE) is a recently developed metric that measures the destructive potential of tropical cyclones (TCs) by integrating the square of the surface winds across these powerful storms. In this chapter, the previous literature is reviewed to provide insights on the factors that make IKE a desirable metric. IKE complements existing scales and metrics by considering a TC’s entire wind field, in lieu of just focusing on the maximum intensity of a storm. Using a dataset of six-hourly IKE estimates for two decades of North Atlantic TC activity, the climatology of IKE in individual storms is explored, with emphasis on seasonal and spatial variability. The driving mechanisms for IKE variability during the lifetime of a TC are also reviewed to determine which environmental and storm-scale features promote IKE growth. The historical record of IKE can also be aggregated to a seasonal metric, called Track Integrated Kinetic Energy (TIKE), which is shown to offer a comprehensive overview of seasonal TC activity and can be used to explore interannual TC variability over the last two to three decades.