Baroclinic effects on the distribution of tropical cyclone eye subsidence

Solutions of the secondary (transverse) circulation equation for an axisymmetric, gradient balanced vortex are used to better understand the distribution of subsidence in the eye of a tropical cyclone. This secondary circulation equation is derived using both the physical radius coordinate r and the...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wayne H. Schubert, Richard K. Taft, Christopher J. Slocum
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Earth Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.1062465/full
_version_ 1811291838771888128
author Wayne H. Schubert
Richard K. Taft
Christopher J. Slocum
author_facet Wayne H. Schubert
Richard K. Taft
Christopher J. Slocum
author_sort Wayne H. Schubert
collection DOAJ
description Solutions of the secondary (transverse) circulation equation for an axisymmetric, gradient balanced vortex are used to better understand the distribution of subsidence in the eye of a tropical cyclone. This secondary circulation equation is derived using both the physical radius coordinate r and the potential radius coordinate R. In the R-coordinate version, baroclinic effects are implicit in the coordinate transformation and are recovered in the final step of transforming the solution for the streamfunction Ψ back from R-space to r-space. Two types of elliptic problems for Ψ are formulated: 1) the full secondary circulation problem, which is formulated on 0 ≤ R < ∞, with the diabatic forcing due to eyewall convection appearing on the right-hand side of the elliptic equation; 2) the restricted secondary circulation problem, which is formulated on 0 ≤ R ≤ Rew, where the constant Rew is the potential radius of the inside edge of the eyewall, with no diabatic forcing but with the streamfunction specified along R = Rew. The restricted secondary circulation problem can be solved semi-analytically for the case of vertically sheared, Rankine vortex cores. The solutions identify the conditions under which large values of radial and vertical advection of θ are located in the lower troposphere at the outer edge of the eye, thereby producing a warm-ring thermal structure.
first_indexed 2024-04-13T04:35:24Z
format Article
id doaj.art-c1663819b7074b1c95e99d6e565a66e5
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2296-6463
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-13T04:35:24Z
publishDate 2022-12-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Earth Science
spelling doaj.art-c1663819b7074b1c95e99d6e565a66e52022-12-22T03:02:11ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Earth Science2296-64632022-12-011010.3389/feart.2022.10624651062465Baroclinic effects on the distribution of tropical cyclone eye subsidenceWayne H. Schubert0Richard K. Taft1Christopher J. Slocum2Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United StatesDepartment of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United StatesNOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United StatesSolutions of the secondary (transverse) circulation equation for an axisymmetric, gradient balanced vortex are used to better understand the distribution of subsidence in the eye of a tropical cyclone. This secondary circulation equation is derived using both the physical radius coordinate r and the potential radius coordinate R. In the R-coordinate version, baroclinic effects are implicit in the coordinate transformation and are recovered in the final step of transforming the solution for the streamfunction Ψ back from R-space to r-space. Two types of elliptic problems for Ψ are formulated: 1) the full secondary circulation problem, which is formulated on 0 ≤ R < ∞, with the diabatic forcing due to eyewall convection appearing on the right-hand side of the elliptic equation; 2) the restricted secondary circulation problem, which is formulated on 0 ≤ R ≤ Rew, where the constant Rew is the potential radius of the inside edge of the eyewall, with no diabatic forcing but with the streamfunction specified along R = Rew. The restricted secondary circulation problem can be solved semi-analytically for the case of vertically sheared, Rankine vortex cores. The solutions identify the conditions under which large values of radial and vertical advection of θ are located in the lower troposphere at the outer edge of the eye, thereby producing a warm-ring thermal structure.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.1062465/fulltropical cycloneeye subsidencebaroclinic effectssecondary circulationgradient balanced vortex
spellingShingle Wayne H. Schubert
Richard K. Taft
Christopher J. Slocum
Baroclinic effects on the distribution of tropical cyclone eye subsidence
Frontiers in Earth Science
tropical cyclone
eye subsidence
baroclinic effects
secondary circulation
gradient balanced vortex
title Baroclinic effects on the distribution of tropical cyclone eye subsidence
title_full Baroclinic effects on the distribution of tropical cyclone eye subsidence
title_fullStr Baroclinic effects on the distribution of tropical cyclone eye subsidence
title_full_unstemmed Baroclinic effects on the distribution of tropical cyclone eye subsidence
title_short Baroclinic effects on the distribution of tropical cyclone eye subsidence
title_sort baroclinic effects on the distribution of tropical cyclone eye subsidence
topic tropical cyclone
eye subsidence
baroclinic effects
secondary circulation
gradient balanced vortex
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.1062465/full
work_keys_str_mv AT waynehschubert barocliniceffectsonthedistributionoftropicalcycloneeyesubsidence
AT richardktaft barocliniceffectsonthedistributionoftropicalcycloneeyesubsidence
AT christopherjslocum barocliniceffectsonthedistributionoftropicalcycloneeyesubsidence