Open AccessNumerical simulation of a super cyclonic storm, Orissa 1999: impact of initial conditions
Author(s) -
Trivedi D K,
Sanjay J,
Singh S S
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
meteorological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1469-8080
pISSN - 1350-4827
DOI - 10.1017/s1350482702003109
Subject(s) - cyclone (programming language) , mm5 , meteorology , environmental science , wind speed , climatology , mesoscale meteorology , vortex , tropical cyclone , maximum sustained wind , storm , cyclogenesis , wind shear , geology , atmospheric sciences , wind gradient , computer science , geography , field programmable gate array , computer hardware
Abstract Numerical simulations are performed using the Penn State University/ National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5) to study the impact of initial conditions on the super cyclone which hit the coast of Orissa in 1999. Because analysis of the cyclone's circulation was inadequate in the initial fields owing to the coarse resolution of the operational analysis systems and sparse oceanic data coverage, synthetic vortex data were generated using empirical relations and used in the analysis. Four‐dimensional data assimilation is performed in order to assimilate the synthetic vortex in the initial stage to the model. Considerable improvement in the track is obtained by using the synthetic vortex. With better specification of the initial vortex structure, the model successfully simulated the typical tropical cyclone characteristics, such as asymmetries in the wind field: the strongest winds occurred in the east and close to the cyclone's centre, strong wind gradients were found between the centre and the maximum wind region, and there was a slow decrease in wind speed up to the middle troposphere. Despite failing to produce the intense pressure drop observed for this cyclone, the model shows much better cyclone development with enhanced initial condition than the analysis. Copyright © 2002 Royal Meteorological Society.