Open AccessAn effective radius of the sea surface enthalpy flux for the maintenance of a tropical cyclone
Author(s) -
Miyamoto Y.,
Takemi T.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
atmospheric science letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 45
ISSN - 1530-261X
DOI - 10.1002/asl.292
Subject(s) - radius , tropical cyclone , cyclone (programming language) , flux (metallurgy) , atmospheric sciences , enthalpy , environmental science , intensity (physics) , meteorology , climatology , physics , geology , materials science , thermodynamics , computer security , field programmable gate array , computer science , metallurgy , quantum mechanics , computer hardware
This study found that there is a radius within which the sea surface flux for moist enthalpy plays a vital role in determining the intensity of a tropical cyclone. From the results of the numerical experiments using an axisymmetric nonhydrostatic model, it was shown that when the sea surface fluxes are modified within the radius, the intensity suddenly changes on a short timescale. As long as the surface enthalpy flux diminishes outside this radius, the tropical cyclone intensity does not decrease. In the simulated tropical cyclone, this radius locates 7–8 times the radius of the maximum wind speed. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society