Tropical Cyclone Maximum Intensity Research Articles

Spatial and Temporal Trends in the Location of the Lifetime Maximum Intensity of Tropical Cyclones

The climatology of tropical cyclones is an immediate research need, specifically to better understand their long-term patterns and elucidate their future in a changing climate. One important pattern that has recently been detected is the poleward shift of the lifetime maximum intensity (LMI) of tropical cyclones. This study further assessed the recent (1977–2015) spatial changes in the LMI of tropical cyclones, specifically those of tropical storm strength or stronger in the North Atlantic and northern West Pacific basins. Analyses of moving decadal means suggested that LMI locations migrated south in the North Atlantic and north in the West Pacific. In addition to a linear trend, there is a cyclical migration of LMI that is especially apparent in the West Pacific. Relationships between LMI migration and intensity were explored, as well as LMI location relative to landfall. The southerly trend of LMI in the North Atlantic was most prevalent in the strongest storms, resulting in these storms reaching their LMI farther from land. The relationship between intensity and LMI migration in the West Pacific was not as clear, but the most intense storms have been reaching LMI closer to their eventual landfall location. This work adds to those emphasizing the importance of understanding the climatology of the most intense hurricanes and shows there are potential human impacts resulting from any migration of LMI.

Is the poleward migration of tropical cyclone maximum intensity associated with a poleward migration of tropical cyclone genesis?

A recent study showed that the global average latitude where tropical cyclones achieve their lifetime-maximum intensity has been migrating poleward at a rate of about one-half degree of latitude per decade over the last 30 years in each hemisphere. However, it does not answer a critical question: is the poleward migration of tropical cyclone lifetime-maximum intensity associated with a poleward migration of tropical cyclone genesis? In this study we will examine this question. First we analyze changes in the environmental variables associated with tropical cyclone genesis, namely entropy deficit, potential intensity, vertical wind shear, vorticity, skin temperature and specific humidity at 500 hPa in reanalysis datasets between 1980 and 2013. Then, a selection of these variables is combined into two tropical cyclone genesis indices that empirically relate tropical cyclone genesis to large-scale variables. We find a shift toward greater (smaller) average potential number of genesis at higher (lower) latitudes over most regions of the Pacific Ocean, which is consistent with a migration of tropical cyclone genesis towards higher latitudes. We then examine the global best track archive and find coherent and significant poleward shifts in mean genesis position over the Pacific Ocean basins.

Predictability and Dynamics of Tropical Cyclone Rapid Intensification Deduced from High-Resolution Stochastic Ensembles

AbstractRapid intensification (RI) of tropical cyclones (TCs) remains one of the most challenging issues in TC prediction. This study investigates the predictability of RI, the uncertainty in predicting RI timing, and the dynamical processes associated with RI. To address the question of environmental versus internal control of RI, five high-resolution ensembles of Hurricane Earl (2010) were generated with scale-dependent stochastic perturbations from synoptic to convective scales. Although most members undergo RI and intensify into major hurricanes, the timing of RI is highly uncertain. While environmental conditions including SST control the maximum TC intensity and the likelihood of RI during the TC lifetime, both environmental and internal factors contribute to uncertainty in RI timing. Complex interactions among environmental vertical wind shear, the mean vortex, and internal convective processes govern the TC intensification process and lead to diverse pathways to maturity. Although the likelihood of Earl undergoing RI seems to be predictable, the exact timing of RI has a stochastic component and low predictability.Despite RI timing uncertainty, two dominant modes of RI emerged. One group of members undergoes RI early in the storm life cycle; the other one later. In the early RI cases, a rapidly contracting radius of maximum wind accompanies the development of the eyewall during RI. The late RI cases have a well-developed eyewall prior to RI, while an upper-level warm core forms during the RI process. These differences indicate that RI is associated with distinct physical processes during particular stages of the TC life cycle.

The influence of model resolution on the simulated sensitivity of North Atlantic tropical cyclone maximum intensity to sea surface temperature

AbstractGlobal climate models (GCMs) are routinely relied upon to study the possible impacts of climate change on a wide range of meteorological phenomena, including tropical cyclones (TCs). Previous studies addressed whether GCMs are capable of reproducing observed TC frequency and intensity distributions. This research builds upon earlier studies by examining how well GCMs capture the physically relevant relationship between TC intensity and SST. Specifically, the influence of model resolution on the ability of a GCM to reproduce the sensitivity of simulated TC intensity to SST is examined for the MRI‐AGCM (20 km), the GFDL‐HiRAM (50 km), the FSU‐COAPS (0.94°) model, and two versions of the CAM5 (1° and 0.25°). Results indicate that while a 1°C increase in SST corresponds to a 5.5–7.0 m s−1 increase in observed maximum intensity, the same 1°C increase in SST is not associated with a statistically significant increase in simulated TC maximum intensity for any of the models examined. However, it also is shown that the GCMs all capably reproduce the observed sensitivity of potential intensity to SST. The models generate the thermodynamic environment suitable for the development of strong TCs over the correct portions of the North Atlantic basin, but strong simulated TCs do not develop over these areas, even for models that permit Category 5 TCs. This result supports the notion that direct simulation of TC eyewall convection is necessary to accurately represent TC intensity and intensification processes in climate models, although additional explanations are also explored.

High-Resolution Climate Simulations Using GFDL HiRAM with a Stretched Global Grid

Abstract An analytic Schmidt transformation is used to create locally refined global model grids capable of efficient climate simulation with gridcell widths as small as 10 km in the GFDL High-Resolution Atmosphere Model (HiRAM). This method of grid stretching produces a grid that varies very gradually into the region of enhanced resolution without changing the topology of the model grid and does not require radical changes to the solver. AMIP integrations were carried out with two grids stretched to 10-km minimum gridcell width: one centered over East Asia and the western Pacific warm pool, and the other over the continental United States. Robust improvements to orographic precipitation, the diurnal cycle of warm-season continental precipitation, and tropical cyclone maximum intensity were found in the region of enhanced resolution, compared to 25-km uniform-resolution HiRAM. The variations in grid size were not found to create apparent grid artifacts, and in some measures the global-mean climate improved in the stretched-grid simulations. In the enhanced-resolution regions, the number of tropical cyclones was reduced, but the fraction of storms reaching hurricane intensity increased, compared to a uniform-resolution simulation. This behavior was also found in a stretched-grid perpetual-September aquaplanet simulation with 12-km resolution over a part of the tropics. Furthermore, the stretched-grid aquaplanet simulation was also largely free of grid artifacts except for an artificial Walker-type circulation, and simulated an ITCZ in its unrefined region more resembling that of higher-resolution aquaplanet simulations, implying that the unrefined region may also be improved in stretched-grid simulations. The improvements due to stretching are attributable to improved resolution as these stretched-grid simulations were sparingly tuned.

Variations in large-scale tropical cyclone genesis factors over the western North Pacific in the PMIP3 last millennium simulations

Investigation of past tropical cyclone (TC) activity in the Western North Pacific (WNP) is potentially helpful to enable better understanding of future TC behaviors. In this study, we examine variations in large-scale environmental factors important to TC genesis in the last millennium simulations from the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase 3 (PMIP3). The results show that potential intensity, a theoretical prediction of the maximum TC intensity, is increased relative to the last millennium in the north part of the WNP in the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; 950–1200 AD) while it is decreased in the Little Ice Age (LIA; 1600–1850 AD). Vertical wind shear that generally inhibits TC genesis is enhanced (reduced) to the south of 20°N and is reduced (enhanced) to the north in the MCA (LIA). Relative humidity (at 600 hPa) that measures the mid-tropospheric moisture content broadly shows an increase (decrease) in the MCA (LIA). A genesis potential index indicates that conditions are generally favorable (unfavorable) for TC formation in the WNP in the MCA (LIA), especially in the northern part. Taking changes in steering flows into account, there may be an increasing (decreasing) favorability for storm strikes in East Asia in the MCA (LIA). The estimated TC activity is consistent with the geological proxies in Japan, but contradicts with the typhoon records in southern China and Taiwan. This model-data discrepancy is attributed to the limitations in both simulations and reconstructions.

Latitudinal Change of Tropical Cyclone Maximum Intensity in the Western North Pacific

This study obtained the latitude where tropical cyclones (TCs) show maximum intensity and applied statistical change-point analysis on the time series data of the average annual values. The analysis results found that the latitude of the TC maximum intensity increased from 1999. To investigate the reason behind this phenomenon, the difference of the average latitude between 1999 and 2013 and the average between 1977 and 1998 was analyzed. In a difference of 500 hPa streamline between the two periods, anomalous anticyclonic circulations were strong in 30°–50°N, while anomalous monsoon trough was located in the north of South China Sea. This anomalous monsoon trough was extended eastward to 145°E. Middle-latitude region in East Asia is affected by the anomalous southeasterlies due to these anomalous anticyclonic circulations and anomalous monsoon trough. These anomalous southeasterlies play a role of anomalous steering flows that make the TCs heading toward region in East Asia middle latitude. As a result, TCs during 1999–2013 had higher latitude of the maximum intensity compared to the TCs during 1977–1998.

Tropical cyclones and climate change

Recent research has strengthened the understanding of the links between climate and tropical cyclones (TCs) on various timescales. Geological records of past climates have shown century‐long variations in TC numbers. While no significant trends have been identified in the Atlantic since the late 19th century, significant observed trends in TC numbers and intensities have occurred in this basin over the past few decades, and trends in other basins are increasingly being identified. However, understanding of the causes of these trends is incomplete, and confidence in these trends continues to be hampered by a lack of consistent observations in some basins. A theoretical basis for maximum TC intensity appears now to be well established, but a climate theory of TC formation remains elusive. Climate models mostly continue to predict future decreases in global TC numbers, projected increases in the intensities of the strongest storms and increased rainfall rates. Sea level rise will likely contribute toward increased storm surge risk. Against the background of global climate change and sea level rise, it is important to carry out quantitative assessments on the potential risk of TC‐induced storm surge and flooding to densely populated cities and river deltas. Several climate models are now able to generate a good distribution of both TC numbers and intensities in the current climate. Inconsistent TC projection results emerge from modeling studies due to different downscaling methodologies and warming scenarios, inconsistencies in projected changes of large‐scale conditions, and differences in model physics and tracking algorithms. WIREs Clim Change 2016, 7:65–89. doi: 10.1002/wcc.371This article is categorized under: Paleoclimates and Current Trends > Earth System Behavior

Validating Atmospheric Reanalysis Data using Tropical Cyclones as Thermometers

Abstract Temperatures in the upper troposphere of the atmosphere, near the tropopause, play a key role in the evolution of tropical cyclones (TC) by controlling their potential intensity (PI), which describes the thermodynamically based maximum TC intensity that the environment will support. Accurately identifying past trends in PI is critical for understanding the causes of observed changes in TC intensity, but calculations of PI trends using different atmospheric reanalysis products can give very different results, largely due to differences in their representation of upper-tropospheric temperatures. Without a means to verify the fidelity of the upper-tropospheric temperatures, PI trends calculated from these products are very uncertain. Here, a method is introduced to validate the upper-tropospheric temperatures in the reanalysis products by using the TCs themselves as thermometers. Using a 30-yr global dataset of TC cloud-top temperatures and three widely utilized atmospheric reanalysis products—Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), ECMWF interim reanalysis (ERA-Interim), and NCEP–NCAR Global Reanalysis 1—it is shown that storm-local upper-level temperatures in the MERRA and ERA-Interim data vary similarly to the TC cloud-top temperatures on both interannual and decadal time scales, but the NCEP–NCAR data have substantial biases that introduce an increasing trend in storm-local PI not found in the other two products. The lack of global storm-local PI trends is due to a balance between temporal increases in the mean state and the poleward migration of TCs into lower climatological PI, and it has significant implications for the detection and attribution of mean TC intensity trends.

최대 강도 태풍의 북상 경향에 대한 종관분석

Regarding the tropical cyclone (TC) genesis frequency, TCs between 1999 and 2013 were generated more frequently in the northwest waters of the tropical- and subtropical western North Pacific than TCs between 1977 and 1998. TCs over the period from 1977-1998 showed a northward track trend generated mostly from the distant sea in east of the Philippines via the mainland of the Philippines and the South China Sea to the west toward Indochina or from the distant sea in east of the Philippines to the distance sea in east of Japan. TCS over the period from 1999-2013 showed a northward shift pattern to the mid-latitude region mostly in East Asia. Therefore, TCs over the period from 1999-2013 tended to move to much higher latitudes than TCs over the period from 1977-1998, which also resulted in the high possibility of maximum TC intensity occurred in higher latitudes during the former period than the latter period. In the difference of 500 hPa streamline between two periods, the anomalous anticyclonic circulations were strengthened in whereas the anomalous monsoon trough was placed in north of the South China Sea, which was extended to the east up to . The mid-latitude in East Asia is affected by the anomalous southeasterlies due to the above anomalous anticyclonic circulations and anomalous monsoon trough. The anomalous southeasterlies play a role in anomalous steering flows that directed TCs to the mid-latitude regions in East Asia, which made the latitudes of the maximum intensities in TCs over the period from 1999 - 2013 further to the north than those in TCs over the period from 1977-1998.

Distribution characteristics of the intensity and extreme intensity of tropical cyclones influencing China

To address the deficiency of climatological research on tropical cyclones (TCs) influencing China, we analyze the distributions of TCs with different intensities in the region, based on the best-track TC data for 1949–2011 provided by the Shanghai Typhoon Institute. We also present the distributions of 50- and 100-yr return-period TCs with different intensities using the Gumbel probability distribution. The results show that TCs with different intensities exert distinctive effects on various regions of China and its surrounding waters. The extreme intensity distributions of TCs over these different regions also differ. Super and severe typhoons mainly influence Taiwan Island and coastal areas of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, while typhoons and TCs with lower intensities influence South China most frequently. The probable maximum TC intensity (PMTI) with 50- and 100-yr return periods influencing Taiwan Island is below 890 hPa; the PMTI with a 50-yr return period influencing the coastal areas of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces is less than 910 hPa, and that with a 100-yr return period is less than 900 hPa; the PMTI with a 50-yr return period influencing the coastal areas of Hainan, Guangdong, and the northern part of the South China Sea is lower than 930 hPa, and that with a 100-yr return period is less than 920 hPa. The results provide a useful reference for the estimation of extreme TC intensities over different regions of China.

The poleward migration of the location of tropical cyclone maximum intensity.

Temporally inconsistent and potentially unreliable global historical data hinder the detection of trends in tropical cyclone activity. This limits our confidence in evaluating proposed linkages between observed trends in tropical cyclones and in the environment. Here we mitigate this difficulty by focusing on a metric that is comparatively insensitive to past data uncertainty, and identify a pronounced poleward migration in the average latitude at which tropical cyclones have achieved their lifetime-maximum intensity over the past 30 years. The poleward trends are evident in the global historical data in both the Northern and the Southern hemispheres, with rates of 53 and 62 kilometres per decade, respectively, and are statistically significant. When considered together, the trends in each hemisphere depict a global-average migration of tropical cyclone activity away from the tropics at a rate of about one degree of latitude per decade, which lies within the range of estimates of the observed expansion of the tropics over the same period. The global migration remains evident and statistically significant under a formal data homogenization procedure, and is unlikely to be a data artefact. The migration away from the tropics is apparently linked to marked changes in the mean meridional structure of environmental vertical wind shear and potential intensity, and can plausibly be linked to tropical expansion, which is thought to have anthropogenic contributions.

Growing threat of intense tropical cyclones to East Asia over the period 1977–2010

The threat of intense tropical cyclones (TCs) to East Asia has increased in recent decades. Integrated analyses of five available TC data sets for the period 1977–2010 revealed that the growing threat of TCs primarily results from the significant shift that the spatial positions of the maximum intensity of TCs moved closer to East Asian coastlines from Vietnam to Japan. This shift incurs a robust increase in landfall intensity over east China, Korea and Japan. In contrast, an increase of TC genesis frequency over the northern part of the South China Sea leads to a reduction in the maximum TC intensity before landfall, because of their short lifetime; thus, there are no clear tendencies in the landfall intensity across Vietnam, south China and Taiwan. All changes are related to the strengthening of the Pacific Walker circulation, closely linked with the recent manifestation that the warming trend of sea surface temperature in the tropical western Pacific is much higher than that in the central to eastern Pacific.

The Effects of Imposed Stratospheric Cooling on the Maximum Intensity of Tropical Cyclones in Axisymmetric Radiative–Convective Equilibrium

AbstractThe effects of stratospheric cooling and sea surface warming on tropical cyclone (TC) potential intensity (PI) are explored using an axisymmetric cloud-resolving model run to radiative–convective equilibrium (RCE). Almost all observationally constrained datasets show that the tropical lower stratosphere has cooled over the past few decades. Such cooling may affect PI by modifying the storm's outflow temperature, which together with the sea surface temperature (SST) determines the thermal efficiency in PI theory. Results show that cooling near and above the model tropopause (∼90 hPa), with fixed SST, increases the PI at a rate of 1 m s−1 per degree of cooling. Most of this trend comes from a large increase in the thermal efficiency component of PI as the stratosphere cools. Sea surface warming (with fixed stratospheric temperature) increases the PI by roughly twice as much per degree, at a rate of about 2 m s−1 K−1. Under increasing SST, most of the PI trend comes from large changes in the air–sea thermodynamic disequilibrium. The predicted outflow temperature shows no trend in response to SST increase; however, the outflow height increases substantially. Under stratospheric cooling, the outflow temperature decreases and at the same rate as the imposed cooling. These results have considerable implications for global PI trends in response to climate change. Tropical oceans have warmed by about 0.15 K decade−1 since the 1970s, but the stratosphere has cooled anywhere from 0.3 to over 1 K decade−1, depending on the dataset. Therefore, global PI trends in recent decades appear to have been driven more by stratospheric cooling than by surface warming.

Relationship of maximum tropical cyclone intensity to sea surface temperature and tropical cyclone heat potential in the North Pacific Ocean

We investigated whether the maximum intensity of tropical cyclones (TC) in the North Pacific Ocean depends on sea surface temperature (SST) and tropical cyclone heat potential (TCHP). The study used reanalysis data sets for both the oceans and atmosphere: daily, 10‐day, and monthly oceanic data sets; six‐hour and monthly atmospheric data sets; and a daily satellite SST data set, for the July‐to‐October season from 2002 to 2005. For each TC, we summed TCHP from the time of genesis to the time of first reaching a minimum central pressure (MCP), to obtain an accumulated TCHP. In a linear regression analysis, the relationship between maximum TC intensity and accumulated TCHP differed between the eastern and western Pacific: high values of accumulated TCHP were needed before a TC attained a certain MCP in the western Pacific. In addition, the background convective available potential energy (CAPE) value was nearly four times larger in the western Pacific than in the eastern Pacific. The static stability was also 6.5% lower, the inertial stability 29.7% higher, and the size of tropical cyclones 38.2% larger in the western Pacific than in the eastern Pacific. The result indicated a deeper Rossby penetration depth and stronger TC in the western Pacific. Finally, we validated the TCHP values derived from three oceanic reanalysis data sets by using Argo profiling float observations. We found that use of only the daily data can reproduce the cooling effect of a passage of a TC, which caused a decrease in the TCHP values.

Effect of planetary boundary layer schemes on the development of intense tropical cyclones using a cloud‐resolving model

We studied the role of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) in intensity and inner core structure of extremely intense tropical cyclones (TC) using a 2 km mesh nonhydrostatic atmospheric model (NHM2) developed for operational use by the Japan Meteorological Agency. To investigate the effects of the PBL on simulated TCs, we used four PBL schemes: level 2.5 and level 3 Mellor‐Yamada‐Nakanishi‐Niino closure schemes, a nonlocal scheme, and the Deardorff‐Blackadar scheme. The numerical results indicated that the subgrid‐scale mixing length determined by the PBL scheme plays a critical role in the determination of maximum TC intensity and inner core structure, even when the same expressions are provided for surface roughness lengths and the air‐sea momentum and heat transfer coefficients. Different vertical eddy‐diffusivity coefficient values derived from the PBL schemes cause differences in the TC intensity, inner core structure, and the relationship between maximum wind speed (MWS) and central pressure (CP). In particular, large vertical eddy diffusivities in lower layers (height <300 m) lead to large heat and water vapor transfers, resulting in extremely intense TCs accompanied by an upright, contracted eyewall structure. We also conducted numerical experiments using a 5 km mesh nonhydrostatic atmospheric model (NHM5) and the same PBL schemes to investigate the effect of horizontal resolution on simulated TCs. The NHM5 was insufficient to accurately represent the MWS or CP of an extremely intense TC, suggesting that NHM2 is required to simulate an extremely intense TC characterized by an upright, contracted eyewall structure.

Mesoscale Data Assimilation of Myanmar Cyclone Nargis Part II: Assimilation of GPS-Derived Precipitable Water Vapor

Four-dimensional variational (4D-Var) data assimilation (DA) experiments using Global Positioning System (GPS)-derived precipitable water vapor (PWV) were conducted for the tropical cyclone (TC) Nargis in 2008. In order to analyze the initial field at 1200 UTC 30 April 2008, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h sequential DA experiments with 3 h assimilation windows were performed. The initial fields made by these DA experiments were applied to subsequent forecast experiments using a nonhydrostatic model (NHM) with a horizontal resolution of 10 km. NHM predictions using initial fields produced by DA experiments that used only ordinary observational data (without GPS PWV) exhibited a large variation of predicted maximum TC intensity (958 to 983 hPa) for each experiment. In these experiments, a longer assimilation period did not necessarily result in better prediction. The DA of GPS PWV yielded a smaller variation of predicted maximum TC intensity (964 to 974 hPa), and a longer assimilation period tended to bring deeper depression of TC central pressure. Overall, TC intensities determined by DA experiments with GPS data were closer to the best track produced by the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) New Delhi than the DA experiments without GPS data. The 48 h DA without GPS PWV resulted in the weakest prediction of TC development with the deepest TC central pressure of 983 hPa, while 48 h DA with GPS PWV successfully predicted rapid TC development with the deepest pressure of 967 hPa. One cause of the incomplete development of Nargis in the 48 h DA experiment without GPS PWV was insufficient observations in the Bay of Bengal, especially in the first 12 h. Underestimation of precipitation was conspicuous in the first 12 h of the DA. Implementation of GPS PWV into the DA contributed to increasing the precipitation and changed the fields of pressure and wind in the bay. In the first several hours, modifications of the fields of pressure and wind around the Andaman Islands were conspicuous. These affected areas extended with time and created a more favorable environment for TC development.

Satellite Microwave Surface Observations in Tropical Cyclones

Abstract Sea surface estimates of local winds, waves, and rain-rate conditions are crucial to complement infrared/visible satellite images in estimating the strength of tropical cyclones (TCs). Satellite measurements at microwave frequencies are thus key elements of present and future observing systems. Available for more than 20 years, passive microwave measurements are very valuable but still suffer from insufficient resolution and poor wind vector retrievals in the rainy conditions encountered in and around tropical cyclones. Scatterometer and synthetic aperture radar active microwave measurements performed at the C and Ku band on board the European Remote Sensing (ERS), the Meteorological Operational (MetOp), the Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT), the Environmental Satellite (Envisat), and RadarSat satellites can also be used to map the surface wind field in storms. Their accuracy is limited in the case of heavy rain and possible saturation of the microwave signals is reported. Altimeter dual-frequency measurements have also been shown to provide along-track information related to surface wind speed, wave height, and vertically integrated rain rate at about 6-km resolution. Although limited for operational use by their dimensional sampling, the dual-frequency capability makes altimeters a unique satellite-borne sensor to perform measurements of key surface parameters in a consistent way. To illustrate this capability two Jason-1 altimeter passes over Hurricanes Isabel and Wilma are examined. The area of maximum TC intensity, as described by the National Hurricane Center and by the altimeter, is compared for these two cases. Altimeter surface wind speed and rainfall-rate observations are further compared with measurements performed by other remote sensors, namely, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission instruments and the airborne Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer.

Energy Production, Frictional Dissipation, and Maximum Intensity of a Numerically Simulated Tropical Cyclone*

Abstract A tropical cyclone (TC) viewed as a heat engine converts heat energy extracted from the ocean into the kinetic energy of the TC, which is eventually dissipated due to surface friction. Since the energy production rate is a linear function while the frictional dissipation rate is a cubic power of surface wind speed, the dissipation rate is generally smaller than the production rate initially but increases faster than the production rate as the storm intensifies. When the dissipation rate eventually reaches the production rate, the TC has no excess energy to intensify. Emanuel hypothesized that a TC achieves its maximum potential intensity (E-MPI) when the surface frictional dissipation rate balances the energy production rate near the radius of maximum wind (RMW). Although the E-MPI agrees well with the maximum intensity of numerically simulated TCs in earlier axisymmetric models, the balance hypothesis near the RMW has not been evaluated. This study shows that the frictional dissipation rate in a numerically simulated mature TC is about 25% larger than the energy production rate near the RMW, while the dissipation rate is lower than the energy production rate outside the eyewall. This finding implies that the excess frictional dissipation under the eyewall should be partially balanced by the energy production outside the eyewall and thus the local balance hypothesis underestimates the TC maximum intensity. Both Lagrangian and control volume equivalent potential temperature (θe) budget analyses demonstrate that the energy gained by boundary layer inflow air due to surface entropy fluxes outside of and prior to interaction with the eyewall contributes significantly to the energy balance in the eyewall through the lateral inward energy flux. This contribution is further verified using a sensitivity experiment in which the surface entropy fluxes are eliminated outside a radius of 30–45 km, which leads to a 13.5% reduction in the maximum sustained near-surface wind speed and a largely reduced size of the model TC.

Evaluation of an Analytical Model for the Maximum Intensity of Tropical Cyclones

Abstract Several studies have shown that the intensity of numerically simulated tropical cyclones can exceed (by 50%) a theoretical upper limit. To investigate the cause, this study evaluates the underlying components of Emanuel’s commonly cited analytic theory for potential intensity (herein referred to as E-PI). A review of the derivation of E-PI highlights three primary components: a dynamical component (gradient-wind and hydrostatic balance); a thermodynamical component (reversible or pseudoadiabatic thermodynamics, although the pseudoadiabatic assumption yields greater intensity); and a planetary boundary layer (PBL) closure (which relates the horizontal gradients of entropy and angular momentum at the top of the PBL to fluxes and stresses at the ocean surface). These three components are evaluated using output from an axisymmetric numerical model. The present analysis finds the thermodynamical component and the PBL closure to be sufficiently accurate for several different simulations. In contrast, the dynamical component is clearly violated. Although the balanced portion of the flow (υg, to which E-PI applies) appears to also exceed E-PI, it is shown that this difference is attributable to the method used to calculate υg from the model output. Evidence is shown that υg for a truly balanced cyclone does not exceed E-PI. To clearly quantify the impact of unbalanced flow, a more complete analytic model is presented. The model is not expressed in terms of external conditions and thus cannot be used to predict maximum intensity for a given environment; however, it does allow for evaluation of the relative contributions to maximum intensity from balanced and unbalanced (i.e., inertial) terms in the governing equations. Using numerical model output, this more complete model is shown to accurately model maximum intensity. Analysis against observations further confirms that the effects of unbalanced flow on maximum intensity are not always negligible. The contribution to intensity from unbalanced flow can become negligible in axisymmetric models as radial turbulence (i.e., viscosity) increases, and this explains why some previous studies concluded that E-PI was an accurate upper bound for their simulations. Conclusions of this study are also compared and contrasted to those from previous studies.