Search Results
Abstract
One of the most persistent rain-making events over East Asia is the development of an early summer monsoon trough (Mei-Yu) which extends from southeastern China to southern Japan. This work studies the structure and vorticity budget of a Mei-Yu system for the period 10–15 June 1975.
Subjectively analyzed grid-point data are time composited with respect to the trough axis along three cross sections over southeastern China (western section), southern East China Sea (central section) and southern Japan (eastern section), respectively, during the mature and decaying stages of the trough. The results indicate that the structure of the eastern and central sections resembles a typical midlatitude baroclinic front with strong vertical tilt toward an upper level cold core and a strong horizontal temperature gradient. On the other band, the western section resembles a semitropical disturbance with an equivalent barotropic, warm core structure, a weak horizontal temperature gradient, and a rather strong horizontal wind shear in the lower troposphere.
Cumulus convection activity south of the 850 mb trough is significant in all three sections and contributes substantially to the thermally direct secondary circulation, but the large-scale organizing mechanism differs from one section to another. In the eastern and central sections it is mainly due to differential vorticity advection while in the western section it is due to Ekman pumping (CISK). The generation of cyclonic vorticity is counteracted by cumulus damping in the eastern section and by boundary layer friction in the mountainous western section.
Abstract
One of the most persistent rain-making events over East Asia is the development of an early summer monsoon trough (Mei-Yu) which extends from southeastern China to southern Japan. This work studies the structure and vorticity budget of a Mei-Yu system for the period 10–15 June 1975.
Subjectively analyzed grid-point data are time composited with respect to the trough axis along three cross sections over southeastern China (western section), southern East China Sea (central section) and southern Japan (eastern section), respectively, during the mature and decaying stages of the trough. The results indicate that the structure of the eastern and central sections resembles a typical midlatitude baroclinic front with strong vertical tilt toward an upper level cold core and a strong horizontal temperature gradient. On the other band, the western section resembles a semitropical disturbance with an equivalent barotropic, warm core structure, a weak horizontal temperature gradient, and a rather strong horizontal wind shear in the lower troposphere.
Cumulus convection activity south of the 850 mb trough is significant in all three sections and contributes substantially to the thermally direct secondary circulation, but the large-scale organizing mechanism differs from one section to another. In the eastern and central sections it is mainly due to differential vorticity advection while in the western section it is due to Ekman pumping (CISK). The generation of cyclonic vorticity is counteracted by cumulus damping in the eastern section and by boundary layer friction in the mountainous western section.
Abstract
This study examines the convection and rapid filamentation in Typhoon Sinlaku (2008) using the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) P-3 aircraft data collected during the Tropical Cyclone Structure 2008 (TCS-08) and The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPEX) Pacific Asian Regional Campaign (T-PARC) field experiments. The high-resolution aircraft radar and wind data are used to directly compute the filamentation time, to allow an investigation into the effect of filamentation on convection. During the reintensification stage, some regions of deep convection near the eyewall are found in the vorticity-dominated area where there is little filamentation. In some other parts of the eyewall and the outer spiral rainband region, including areas of upward motion, the filamentation process appears to suppress deep convection. However, the magnitude of the suppression differs greatly in the two regions. In the outer spiral band region, which is about 200 km from the center, the suppression is much more effective, such that the ratio of the deep convective regime occurrence over the stratiform regime varies from around 50% (200%) for filamentation time shorter (longer) than 24 min. In the eyewall cloud region where the conditions are conducive to deep convection, the filamentation effect may be quite limited. While effect of filamentation suppression is only about 10%, it is still systematic and conspicuous for filamentation times shorter than 19 min. The results suggest the possible importance of vortex-scale filamentation dynamics in suppressing deep convection and organizing spiral bands, which may affect the development and evolution of tropical cyclones.
Abstract
This study examines the convection and rapid filamentation in Typhoon Sinlaku (2008) using the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) P-3 aircraft data collected during the Tropical Cyclone Structure 2008 (TCS-08) and The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPEX) Pacific Asian Regional Campaign (T-PARC) field experiments. The high-resolution aircraft radar and wind data are used to directly compute the filamentation time, to allow an investigation into the effect of filamentation on convection. During the reintensification stage, some regions of deep convection near the eyewall are found in the vorticity-dominated area where there is little filamentation. In some other parts of the eyewall and the outer spiral rainband region, including areas of upward motion, the filamentation process appears to suppress deep convection. However, the magnitude of the suppression differs greatly in the two regions. In the outer spiral band region, which is about 200 km from the center, the suppression is much more effective, such that the ratio of the deep convective regime occurrence over the stratiform regime varies from around 50% (200%) for filamentation time shorter (longer) than 24 min. In the eyewall cloud region where the conditions are conducive to deep convection, the filamentation effect may be quite limited. While effect of filamentation suppression is only about 10%, it is still systematic and conspicuous for filamentation times shorter than 19 min. The results suggest the possible importance of vortex-scale filamentation dynamics in suppressing deep convection and organizing spiral bands, which may affect the development and evolution of tropical cyclones.
Abstract
This study examines the intensity change and moat dynamics of typhoons with concentric eyewalls using passive microwave data and best-track data in the western North Pacific between 1997 and 2006. Of the 225 typhoons examined, 55 typhoons and 62 cases with concentric eyewalls have been identified. The data indicate that approximately 57% of category 4 and 72% of category 5 typhoons possessed concentric eyewalls at some point during their lifetime. While major typhoons are most likely to form concentric eyewalls, the formation of the concentric structure may not be necessarily at the lifetime maximum intensity. Approximately one-third of concentric eyewall cases are formed at the time of maximum intensity.
The moat is known to be heavily influenced by the subsidence forced by the two eyewalls. Rozoff et al. proposed that the rapid filamentation dynamics may also contribute to the organization of the moat. This paper examines the possibility of rapid filamentation dynamics by devising a filamentation moat width parameter. This parameter can be computed from the best-track typhoon intensity and the passive microwave satellite-estimated inner eyewall radius for each typhoon with concentric eyewalls. The filamentation moat width explains 40% of the variance of the satellite-observed moat width in the group with concentric eyewall formation intensity greater than 130 kt.
The typhoon intensity time series in both the concentric and nonconcentric composites are studied. The time series of intensity is classified according to the 24-h intensity change before and after the concentric eyewalls formation. The averaged concentric eyewall formation latitudes in the groups with negative intensity change before concentric eyewall formation are at higher latitudes than that of the positive intensity change groups. Intensity of the concentric typhoons tends to peak at the time of secondary eyewall formation, but the standard model of intensification followed by weakening is valid for only half of the cases. Approximately 74% of the cases intensify 24 h before secondary eyewall formation and approximately 72% of the cases weaken 24 h after formation. The concentric composites have a much slower intensification rate 12 h before the peak intensity (time of concentric formation) than that of the nonconcentric composites. For categories 4 and 5, the peak intensity of the concentric typhoons is comparable to that of the nonconcentric typhoons. However, 60 h before reaching the peak the concentric composites are 25% more intense than the nonconcentric composites. So a key feature of concentric eyewall formation appears to be the maintenance of a relatively high intensity for a longer duration, rather than a rapid intensification process that can reach a higher intensity.
Abstract
This study examines the intensity change and moat dynamics of typhoons with concentric eyewalls using passive microwave data and best-track data in the western North Pacific between 1997 and 2006. Of the 225 typhoons examined, 55 typhoons and 62 cases with concentric eyewalls have been identified. The data indicate that approximately 57% of category 4 and 72% of category 5 typhoons possessed concentric eyewalls at some point during their lifetime. While major typhoons are most likely to form concentric eyewalls, the formation of the concentric structure may not be necessarily at the lifetime maximum intensity. Approximately one-third of concentric eyewall cases are formed at the time of maximum intensity.
The moat is known to be heavily influenced by the subsidence forced by the two eyewalls. Rozoff et al. proposed that the rapid filamentation dynamics may also contribute to the organization of the moat. This paper examines the possibility of rapid filamentation dynamics by devising a filamentation moat width parameter. This parameter can be computed from the best-track typhoon intensity and the passive microwave satellite-estimated inner eyewall radius for each typhoon with concentric eyewalls. The filamentation moat width explains 40% of the variance of the satellite-observed moat width in the group with concentric eyewall formation intensity greater than 130 kt.
The typhoon intensity time series in both the concentric and nonconcentric composites are studied. The time series of intensity is classified according to the 24-h intensity change before and after the concentric eyewalls formation. The averaged concentric eyewall formation latitudes in the groups with negative intensity change before concentric eyewall formation are at higher latitudes than that of the positive intensity change groups. Intensity of the concentric typhoons tends to peak at the time of secondary eyewall formation, but the standard model of intensification followed by weakening is valid for only half of the cases. Approximately 74% of the cases intensify 24 h before secondary eyewall formation and approximately 72% of the cases weaken 24 h after formation. The concentric composites have a much slower intensification rate 12 h before the peak intensity (time of concentric formation) than that of the nonconcentric composites. For categories 4 and 5, the peak intensity of the concentric typhoons is comparable to that of the nonconcentric typhoons. However, 60 h before reaching the peak the concentric composites are 25% more intense than the nonconcentric composites. So a key feature of concentric eyewall formation appears to be the maintenance of a relatively high intensity for a longer duration, rather than a rapid intensification process that can reach a higher intensity.
