Rossby wave energy dispersion from tropical cyclone in zonal basic flows

Abstract

AbstractThis study investigates tropical cyclone energy dispersion under horizontally sheared flows using a nonlinear barotropic model. In addition to common patterns, unusual features of Rossby wave trains are also found in flows with constant vorticity and vorticity gradients. In terms of the direction of the energy dispersion, the wave train can rotate clockwise and elongate southwestward under anticyclonic circulation (ASH), which contributes to the reenhancement of the tropical cyclone (TC). The wave train even splits into two obvious wavelike trains in flows with a southward vorticity gradient (WSH). Energy dispersed from TCs varies over time, and variations in the intensity of the wave train components typically occur in two stages. Wave‐activity flux diagnosis and ray tracing calculations are extended to the frame that moves along with the TC to reveal the concrete progress of wave propagation. The direction of the wave‐activity flux is primarily determined by the combination of the basic flow and the TC velocity. Along the flux, the distribution of pseudomomentum effectively illustrates the development of wave trains, particularly the rotation and split of wave propagation. Ray tracing involves the quantitative tracing of wave features along rays, which effectively coincide with the wave train regimes. Flows of a constant shear (parabolic meridional variation) produce linear (nonlinear) wave number variations. For the split wave trains, the real and complex wave number waves move along divergent trajectories and are responsible for different energy dispersion ducts.