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Effect of rainpower on hurricane intensity
Author(s) -
Sabuwala Tapan,
Gioia Gustavo,
Chakraborty Pinaki
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl063785
Subject(s) - atlantic hurricane , environmental science , climatology , tropical cyclone , intensity (physics) , meteorology , storm , satellite , atmospheric sciences , geology , geography , physics , quantum mechanics , aerospace engineering , engineering
Rain pours in a hurricane at a rate of some 2 km 3 /d, the equivalent of river Ganges cascading from the sky. The “rainpower,” or energy per unit time that is lost to friction as rain falls through a hurricane, has not been quantified, and its effect on hurricane intensity remains unknown. Here we use satellite data to show that the rainpower is on the same order of magnitude as the ocean‐derived power that fuels the hurricane. By coupling the satellite data to a suitably modified version of the Carnot‐heat‐engine model of hurricanes, we estimate that rainpower lessens hurricane intensity by 20% on average, bringing the predicted intensities of North Atlantic hurricanes into a much improved accord with a 30 year record of observations. Our findings have implications for weather and climate change forecasting.