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On the interaction of tropical‐cyclone‐scale vortices. I: Observations
Author(s) -
Lander Mark,
Holland Greg J.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49711951406
Subject(s) - vortex , tropical cyclone , climatology , mesoscale meteorology , mesoscale convective system , cyclone (programming language) , physics , convection , african easterly jet , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , typhoon , geology , secondary circulation , tropical cyclogenesis , tropical wave , field programmable gate array , computer science , computer hardware
A detailed analysis is made of the observed behaviour in interaction, tropical‐cyclone‐scale vortices in the western North Pacific region. It is found that all multiple‐vortex interactions can be broken down into a common model of binary interaction. The classical Fujiwhara model of converging cyclonic rotation about a centroid followed by merger is rarely followed. Capture tends to occur rapidly, within several hours, and is followed by a period of relatively stable cyclonic orbit. Cyclone merger occurs by one vortex experiencing a loss of convective organization, followed by horizontal shearing and incorporation into the outer circulation of the other vortex. However, a substantial proportion of interacting cyclones escape from the interaction, and the changeover from a stable orbiting configuration occurs rapidly. A model of binary interaction is presented. Cases where swarms of mesoscale vortices are formed in convectively active regions without tropical cyclones are also documented. These vortices have a much narrower range of influence (a few hundred kilometres) then that observed for tropical cyclones. When groups of vortices come within this range they are observed to conform to the same interaction model as observed for tropical cyclones.