IMPACT OF SEA SPRAY ON TROPICAL CYCLONE STRUCTURE AND INTENSITY CHANGE

ZENG Zhi-hua; CHEN Lian-shou; BAO Jian-wen

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1006-8775.2012.02.004

Abstract:

In this paper, the effects of sea spray on tropical cyclone (TC) structure and intensity variation are evaluated through numerical simulations using an advanced sea-spray parameterization from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Earth System Research Laboratory (NOAA/ESRL), which is incorporated in the idealized Advanced Research version of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF-ARW) model. The effect of sea spray on TC boundary-layer structure is also analyzed. The results show that there is a significant increase in TC intensity when its boundary-layer wind includes the radial and tangential winds, their structure change, and the total surface wind speed change. Diagnosis of the vorticity budget shows that an increase of convergence in TC boundary layer enhances TC vorticity due to the dynamic effect of sea spay. The main kinematic effect of the friction velocity reduction by sea spray produces an increment of large-scale convergence in the TC boundary layer, while the radial and tangential winds significantly increase with an increment of the horizontal gradient maximum of the radial wind, resulting in a final increase in the simulated TC intensity. The surface enthalpy flux enlarges TC intensity and reduces storm structure change to some degree, which results in a secondary thermodynamic impact on TC intensification. Implications of the new interpretation of sea-spray effects on TC intensification are also discussed.

Get Citation+

ZENG Zhi-hua, CHEN Lian-shou, BAO Jian-wen. IMPACT OF SEA SPRAY ON TROPICAL CYCLONE STRUCTURE AND INTENSITY CHANGE [J]. Journal of Tropical Meteorology, 2012, 18(2): 135-145, https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1006-8775.2012.02.004

Export:

Article Metrics

IMPACT OF SEA SPRAY ON TROPICAL CYCLONE STRUCTURE AND INTENSITY CHANGE

Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044 China Shanghai Typhoon Institute, Laboratory of Typhoon Forecast Technique/China Meteorological Administration, Shanghai 200030 China

Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081 China

NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Received Date: 2011-09-30

Rev Recd Date: 2012-02-15

Abstract: In this paper, the effects of sea spray on tropical cyclone (TC) structure and intensity variation are evaluated through numerical simulations using an advanced sea-spray parameterization from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Earth System Research Laboratory (NOAA/ESRL), which is incorporated in the idealized Advanced Research version of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF-ARW) model. The effect of sea spray on TC boundary-layer structure is also analyzed. The results show that there is a significant increase in TC intensity when its boundary-layer wind includes the radial and tangential winds, their structure change, and the total surface wind speed change. Diagnosis of the vorticity budget shows that an increase of convergence in TC boundary layer enhances TC vorticity due to the dynamic effect of sea spay. The main kinematic effect of the friction velocity reduction by sea spray produces an increment of large-scale convergence in the TC boundary layer, while the radial and tangential winds significantly increase with an increment of the horizontal gradient maximum of the radial wind, resulting in a final increase in the simulated TC intensity. The surface enthalpy flux enlarges TC intensity and reduces storm structure change to some degree, which results in a secondary thermodynamic impact on TC intensification. Implications of the new interpretation of sea-spray effects on TC intensification are also discussed.

HTML

Reference (29)

[1]	EMANUEL K A. An air-sea interaction theory for tropical cyclones. Part I: Steady-state maintenance [J]. J. Atmos. Sci., 1986, 43(6): 585�C604.
[2]	EMANUEL K A. Sensitivity of tropical cyclones to surface exchange coefficients and a revised steady-state model incorporating eye dynamics [J]. J. Atmos. Sci., 1995, 52(22): 3969-3976.
[3]	ROSENTHAL S L. The response of a tropical cyclone model to variations in boundary layer parameters, initial conditions, lateral boundary conditions and domain size [J]. Mon. Wea. Rev., 1971, 99(10): 767-777.
[4]	ZENG Zhi-hua, WANG Yu-qing, DUAN Yi-hong, et al. On sea surface roughness parameterization and its effect on tropical cyclone structure and intensity [J]. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 2010, 27(2): 337-355.
[5]	OOYAMA K. Numerical simulation of the life cycle of tropical cyclones [J]. J. Atmos. Sci., 1969, 26(1): 3-40.
[6]	MALKUS J S, RIEHL H. On the dynamics and energy transformations in steady-state hurricanes [J]. Tellus, 1960, 12(1): 1-20.
[7]	BISTER M, EMANUEL K A. Dissipative heating and hurricane intensity [J]. Meteor. Atmos. Phys., 1998, 65(3-4): 233-240.
[8]	RIEHL H. Tropical Meteorology [M]. McGraw-Hill, 1954: 392pp.
[9]	FAIRALL C W, KEPERT J D, HOLLAND G J. The effect of sea spray, on surface energy transports over the ocean [J]. Global Atmos. Ocean Syst., 1994, 2: 121-142.
[10]	KEPERT J D, FAIRALL C W, BAO J W. Modelling the interaction between the atmospheric boundary layer and evaporating sea spray droplets [M]// Air-Sea Exchange: Physics, Chemistry and Dynamics, GEERNAERT G L (Ed.), Kluwer Academic, 1999: 363-410.
[11]	WANG Y, KEPERT J D, HOLLAND G J. The effect of sea spray evaporation on tropical cyclone boundary layer structure and intensity [J]. Mon. Wea. Rev., 2001, 129(10): 2481-2500.
[12]	LIGHTHILL J, HOLLAND G J, GRAY W, et al. Global climate change and tropical cyclones [J]. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 1994, 75: 2147-2157.
[13]	ANDREAS E L, EMANUEL K A. Effects of sea spray on tropical cyclone intensity [J]. J. Atmos. Sci., 2001, 58(24): 3741-3751.
[14]	BAO J W, WILCZAK J M, CHOI J K, et al. Numerical simulations of air-sea interaction under high wind conditions using a coupled model: A study of hurricane development [J]. Mon. Wea. Rev., 2000, 128(7): 2190-2210.
[15]	ALAMARO M, EMANUEL K A, COLTON J, et al. Experimental investigation of air-sea transfer of momentum and enthalpy at high wind speed [C]// Preprints, 25th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, San Diego: Amer. Meteor. Soc., 2002: 67-668.
[16]	POWELL M D, VICKERY P J, REINHOLD T A. Reduced drag coefficient for high wind speeds in tropical cyclones [J]. Nature, 2003, 422: 279-283.
[17]	DONELAN M A, HAUS B K, REUL N, et al. On the limiting aerodynamic roughness of the ocean in very strong winds [J]. Geophys. Res. Lett., 2004, 31, L18306, doi:10.1029/2004GL019460.
[18]	DRENNAN W M, ZHANG J A, French J R, et al. Turbulent fluxes in the hurricane boundary layer. Part II: Latent heat flux [J]. J. Atmos. Sci., 2007, 64(4): 1103-1115.
[19]	FRENCH J R, DRENNAN W M, ZHANG J A, et al. Turbulent fluxes in the hurricane boundary layer: Part I: Momentum flux [J]. J. Atmos. Sci., 2007, 64(4): 1089-1102.
[20]	ZHANG J A, BLACK P G, FRENCH J R, et al. First direct measurements of enthalpy flux in the hurricane boundary layer: The CBLAST results [J]. Geophys. Res. Lett., 2008, 35, L14813, doi: 10.1029/2008GL034374.
[21]	HONG S Y, DUDHIA J, CHEN S H. A revised approach to ice-microphysical processes for the bulk parameterization of cloud and precipitation [J]. Mon. Wea. Rev., 2004, 132(1): 103-120.
[22]	HONG S Y, NOH Y, DUDHIA J. A new vertical diffusion package with an explicit treatment of entrainment processes [J]. Mon. Wea. Rev., 2006, 134(9): 2318-2341.
[23]	GRAY W M, RUPRECHT E, PHELPS R. Relative humidity in tropical weather systems [J]. Mon. Wea. Rev., 1975, 103(8): 685-690.
[24]	WANG Y. An explicit simulation of tropical cyclones with a triply nested movable mesh primitive equation model: TCM3. Part Ⅰ: Model description and control experiment [J]. Mon. Wea. Rev., 2001, 129(6): 1370-1394.
[25]	WANG Y. A multiply nested, movable mesh, fully compressible, nonhydrostatic tropical cyclone model �C TCM4: Model description and development of asymmetries without explicit asymmetric forcing [J]. Meteor. Atmos. Phys., 2007, 97(1-4): 93-116.
[26]	LYKOSSOV V N., Numerical modelling of interaction between the atmospheric boundary layer and the Antarctic ice shelf [J]. Russ. J. Numer. Anal. Math. Modelling, 2001, 16: 315-330.
[27]	SMITH R K, MONTGOMERY M T, NGUYEN S V. Tropical cyclone spin-up revisited [J]. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 2009, 135(642): 1321-1335.
[28]	HOLTON J R. An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology (Fourth Edition) [M]. San Diego: Academic Press, 2004: 101pp.
[29]	HOUZE R A. Clouds in tropical cyclones [J]. Mon. Wea. Rev., 2010, 138(2): 293-344.

IMPACT OF SEA SPRAY ON TROPICAL CYCLONE STRUCTURE AND INTENSITY CHANGE

Abstract:

References

Get Citation+

Share Article

Article Metrics

Proportional views

Manuscript History

Online:

通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com