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Hurricane intensity in the Ooyama (1969) paradigm
Author(s) -
Schecter David A.
Publication year - 2010
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.657
Subject(s) - meteorology , troposphere , range (aeronautics) , intensity (physics) , wind speed , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , mathematics , statistical physics , physics , materials science , composite material , quantum mechanics
This note derives an analytical approximation for steady‐state hurricane intensity in the three‐layer model of Ooyama (1969). As in the more realistic but involved theory of Emanuel (1986), the square of the maximum wind speed is roughly proportional to the ratio of entropy to momentum exchange coefficients, times a measure of the ambient thermal disequilibrium between the sea surface and the upper troposphere. The analytical approximation compares favourably to a set of three‐layer numerical simulations that covers a broad range of parameter space. Limitations of the analysis are briefly addressed, and a supergradient wind correction is estimated. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society