Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Satellite Air–Sea Enthalpy Flux and Intensity Change of Tropical Cyclones over the Western North Pacific

Si Gao International Laboratory on Climate and Environment Change and Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

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Shunan Zhai International Laboratory on Climate and Environment Change and Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

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Long S. Chiu Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences, College of Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia

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Dong Xia Dongguan Meteorological Bureau, Dongguan, China

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Print Publication:
01 Feb 2016
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-15-0171.1
Page(s):
425–444
Restricted access

Abstract

An improved high-resolution satellite enthalpy flux dataset is employed to study the composites of initial (i.e., t = 0 h) latent heat flux (LHF), sensible heat flux (SHF), and their bulk variables associated with four intensity-change categories of tropical cyclones (TCs) over the western North Pacific Ocean—rapidly intensifying (RI), slowly intensifying, neutral, and weakening—in a vertical wind shear–relative coordinate system with horizontal dimensions normalized by the radius of maximum wind. Results show that RI TCs are associated with significantly higher LHF and SHF in all TC environments than non-RI TCs, which are mainly attributable to the air–sea humidity difference (DQ) and the air–sea temperature difference (DT), respectively. Higher DQ and DT are primarily due to significantly higher sea surface temperature (SST) underlying RI TCs, emphasizing the crucial role of SST in supplying more energy to TCs that undergo rapid intensification, in which LHF plays a more important role than SHF. Relative to non-RI TCs, LHF and SHF for RI TCs show a more symmetric pattern. The magnitude and pattern of air–sea enthalpy flux could serve as potential predictors for rapid intensification of TCs.

Corresponding author address: Si Gao, College of Atmospheric Science, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, 219 Ningliu Road, Nanjing 210044, China. E-mail: sigao@nuist.edu.cn

Abstract

An improved high-resolution satellite enthalpy flux dataset is employed to study the composites of initial (i.e., t = 0 h) latent heat flux (LHF), sensible heat flux (SHF), and their bulk variables associated with four intensity-change categories of tropical cyclones (TCs) over the western North Pacific Ocean—rapidly intensifying (RI), slowly intensifying, neutral, and weakening—in a vertical wind shear–relative coordinate system with horizontal dimensions normalized by the radius of maximum wind. Results show that RI TCs are associated with significantly higher LHF and SHF in all TC environments than non-RI TCs, which are mainly attributable to the air–sea humidity difference (DQ) and the air–sea temperature difference (DT), respectively. Higher DQ and DT are primarily due to significantly higher sea surface temperature (SST) underlying RI TCs, emphasizing the crucial role of SST in supplying more energy to TCs that undergo rapid intensification, in which LHF plays a more important role than SHF. Relative to non-RI TCs, LHF and SHF for RI TCs show a more symmetric pattern. The magnitude and pattern of air–sea enthalpy flux could serve as potential predictors for rapid intensification of TCs.

Corresponding author address: Si Gao, College of Atmospheric Science, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, 219 Ningliu Road, Nanjing 210044, China. E-mail: sigao@nuist.edu.cn
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