Simple Hurricane Model: Asymmetry and Dynamics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Mendes ◽  
José Francisco de Oliveira Júnior ◽  
Monica Cristina Damião Mendes ◽  
Washington Luiz Félix Correia Filho
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Field ◽  
Tangential Velocity ◽  
Parametric Model ◽  
Maximum Speed ◽  
Hurricane Ike ◽  
Dynamic Conditions ◽  
Thermal Wind ◽  
Tangential Wind ◽  
The Right

Abstract In recent decades, the development of several products and hurricane-related models has attempted to predict the dynamic conditions of these systems and regions beyond they can impact. Thus, this article presents a parametric model to describe wind asymmetry in these systems. For this, the analysis of this model was applied in Hurricane Ike, which occurred in September 2008. In this model, the tangential wind field above the boundary layer was considered in balance with the thermal wind. It was possible to identify that as Hurricane Ike evolves, tangential velocity also evolves. Thus, there was a change in static, baroclinic, and inertial stability. An exponential radial reduction was included for maximum speed, and, therefore, the maximum winds always to the right of the hurricane displacement were identified. In addition, pumping near the surface had an influx into this system induced caused by drag between the air and the surface.

The Evolution of Asymmetries in the Tropical Cyclone Boundary Layer Wind Field during Landfall

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Wind Field ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Frictional Stress ◽  
Homogeneous Surface ◽  
Sudden Decrease ◽  
The Right ◽  
Tropical Cyclone Boundary Layer

Abstract The evolution of the tropical cyclone boundary layer (TCBL) wind field before landfall is examined in this study. As noted in previous studies, a typical TCBL wind structure over the ocean features a supergradient boundary layer jet to the left of motion and Earth-relative maximum winds to the right. However, the detailed response of the wind field to frictional convergence at the coastline is less well known. Here, idealized numerical simulations reveal an increase in the offshore radial and vertical velocities beginning once the TC is roughly 200 km offshore. This increase in the radial velocity is attributed to the sudden decrease in frictional stress once the highly agradient flow crosses the offshore coastline. Enhanced advection of angular momentum by the secondary circulation forces a strengthening of the supergradient jet near the top of the TCBL. Sensitivity experiments reveal that the coastal roughness discontinuity dominates the friction asymmetry due to motion. Additionally, increasing the inland roughness through increasing the aerodynamic roughness length enhances the observed asymmetries. Lastly, a brief analysis of in-situ surface wind data collected during the landfall of three Gulf of Mexico hurricanes is provided and compared to the idealized simulations. Despite the limited in-situ data, the observations generally support the simulations. The results here imply that assumptions about the TCBL wind field based on observations from over horizontally-homogeneous surface types - which have been well-documented by previous studies - are inappropriate for use near strong frictional heterogeneity.

scholarly journals Typhoon 9707 observations with the MU radar and L-band boundary layer radar

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 925-931 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Teshiba ◽  
H. Hashiguchi ◽  
S. Fukao ◽  
Y. Shibagaki
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Maximum Speed ◽  
Bright Band ◽  
Mu Radar ◽  
Tangential Wind ◽  
Typhoon Center ◽  
Meteorological Radar ◽  
L Band ◽  
Precipitating Clouds ◽  
Wind Behaviour

Abstract. Typhoon 9707 (Opal) was observed with the VHF-band Middle and Upper atmosphere (MU) radar, an L-band boundary layer radar (BLR), and a vertical-pointing C-band meteorological radar at the Shigaraki MU Observatory in Shiga prefecture, Japan on 20 June 1997. The typhoon center passed about 80 km southeast from the radar site. Mesoscale precipitating clouds developed due to warm-moist airmass transport from the typhoon, and passed over the MU radar site with easterly or southeasterly winds. We primarily present the wind behaviour including the vertical component which a conventional meteorological Doppler radar cannot directly observe, and discuss the relationship between the wind behaviour of the typhoon and the precipitating system. To investigate the dynamic structure of the typhoon, the observed wind was divided into radial and tangential wind components under the assumption that the typhoon had an axi-symmetric structure. Altitude range of outflow ascended from 1–3 km to 2–10 km with increasing distance (within 80–260 km range) from the typhoon center, and in-flow was observed above and below the outflow. Outflow and inflow were associated with updraft and downdraft, respectively. In the tangential wind, the maximum speed of counterclockwise winds was confirmed at 1–2 km altitudes. Based on the vertical velocity and the reflectivity obtained with the MU radar and the C-band meteorological radar, respectively, precipitating clouds, accompanied by the wind behaviour of the typhoon, were classified into stratiform and convective precipitating clouds. In the stratiform precipitating clouds, a vertical shear of radial wind and the maximum speed of counterclockwise wind were observed. There was a strong reflectivity layer called a ‘bright band’ around the 4.2 km altitude. We confirmed strong updrafts and down-drafts below and above it, respectively, and the existence of a relatively dry layer around the bright band level from radiosonde soundings. In the convective precipitating clouds, the regions of strong and weak reflectivities were well associated with those of updraft and downdraft, respectively.Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (mesoscale meteorology; precipitation) Radio science (remote sensing)

scholarly journals Hurricane Boundary Layer Height Relative to Storm Motion from GPS Dropsonde Composites

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yifang Ren ◽  
Jun A. Zhang ◽  
Stephen R. Guimond ◽  
Xiang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Layer Height ◽  
Boundary Layer Height ◽  
Tangential Wind ◽  
Hurricane Boundary Layer ◽  
The Right

This study investigates the asymmetric distribution of hurricane boundary layer height scales in a storm-motion-relative framework using global positioning system (GPS) dropsonde observations. Data from a total of 1916 dropsondes collected within four times the radius of maximum wind speed of 37 named hurricanes over the Atlantic basin from 1998 to 2015 are analyzed in the composite framework. Motion-relative quadrant mean composite analyses show that both the kinematic and thermodynamic boundary layer height scales tend to increase with increasing radius in all four motion-relative quadrants. It is also found that the thermodynamic mixed layer depth and height of maximum tangential wind speed are within the inflow layer in all motion-relative quadrants. The inflow layer depth and height of the maximum tangential wind are both found to be deeper in the two front quadrants, and they are largest in the right-front quadrant. The difference in the thermodynamic mixed layer depth between the front and back quadrants is smaller than that in the kinematic boundary layer height. The thermodynamic mixed layer is shallowest in the right-rear quadrant, which may be due to the cold wake phenomena. The boundary layer height derived using the critical Richardson number ( R i c ) method shows a similar front-back asymmetry as the kinematic boundary layer height.

Does the Rotating Convection Paradigm Describe Secondary Eyewall Formation in Idealized Three-dimensional Simulations?

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Field ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Rotating Convection ◽  
Secondary Eyewall Formation ◽  
A Value ◽  
Tangential Wind ◽  
Rain Fall ◽  
Three Dimensional Simulations

Abstract The formation of a plausible secondary eyewall is examined with two principal simulation experiments that differ only in the fixed value of rain fall speed, one with a value of 70 m s−1 (approaching the pseudo-adiabatic limit) that simulates a secondary eyewall, and one with a value of 7 m s−1 that does not simulate a secondary eyewall. Key differences are sought between these idealized three-dimensional simulations. A notable expansion of the lower-tropospheric tangential wind field to approximately 400 km radius is found associated with the precursor period of the secondary eyewall. The wind field expansion is traced to an enhanced vertical mass flux across the 5.25-km height level, which leads, in turn, to enhanced radial inflow in the lower troposphere and above the boundary layer. The inflow spins up the tangential wind outside the primary eyewall via the conventional spin-up mechanism. This amplified tangential wind field is linked to a broad region of outwardly-directed agradient force in the upper boundary layer. Whereas scattered convection is found outside the primary eyewall in both simulations, the agradient force is shown to promote a ring-like organization of this convection when boundary layer convergence occurs in a persistent, localized region of super-gradient winds. The results support prior work highlighting a new model of secondary eyewall formation emphasizing a boundary layer control pathway for initiating the outer eyewall as part of the rotating convection paradigm of tropical cyclone evolution.

A Parametric Wind–Pressure Relationship for Rankine versus Non-Rankine Cyclostrophic Vortices

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 2850-2867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent T. Wood ◽  
Luther W. White
Keyword(s):  
Wind Profile ◽  
Radial Profile ◽  
Tangential Velocity ◽  
Pressure Rise ◽  
Parametric Model ◽  
Wind Pressure ◽  
Central Pressure ◽  
Shape Parameters ◽  
Rankine Vortex ◽  
Tangential Wind

Abstract A parametric tangential wind profile model is presented for depicting representative pressure deficit profiles corresponding to varying tangential wind profiles of a cyclostrophic, axisymmetric vortex. The model employs five key parameters per wind profile: tangential velocity maximum, radius of the maximum, and three shape parameters that control different portions of the profile. The model coupled with the cyclostrophic balance assumption offers a diagnostic tool for estimating and examining a radial profile of pressure deficit deduced from a theoretical superimposing tangential wind profile in the vortex. Analytical results show that the shape parameters for a given tangential wind maximum of a non-Rankine vortex have an important modulating influence on the behavior of realistic tangential wind and corresponding pressure deficit profiles. The first parameter designed for changing the wind profile from sharply to broadly peaked produces the corresponding central pressure fall. An increase in the second (third) parameter yields the pressure rise by lowering the inner (outer) wind profile inside (outside) the radius of the maximum. Compared to the Rankine vortex, the parametrically constructed non-Rankine vortices have a larger central pressure deficit. It is suggested that the parametric model of non-Rankine vortex tangential winds has good potential for diagnosing the pressure features arising in dust devils, waterspouts, tornadoes, tornado cyclones, and mesocyclones. Finally, presented are two examples in which the parametric model is fitted to a tangential velocity profile, one derived from an idealized numerical simulation and the other derived from high-resolution Doppler radar data collected in a real tornado.

scholarly journals A New Parametric Model of Vortex Tangential-Wind Profiles: Development, Testing, and Verification

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 990-1006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent T. Wood ◽  
Luther W. White
Keyword(s):  
Tangential Velocity ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Parametric Model ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Dust Devils ◽  
Tangential Wind ◽  
Core Boundary ◽  
Wind Profiles ◽  
Atmospheric Vortices ◽  
Mean Square Errors

Abstract A new parametric model of vortex tangential-wind profiles is presented that is primarily designed to depict realistic-looking tangential wind profiles such as those in intense atmospheric vortices arising in dust devils, waterspouts, tornadoes, mesocyclones, and tropical cyclones. The profile employs five key parameters: maximum tangential wind, radius of maximum tangential wind, and three power-law exponents that shape different portions of the velocity profile. In particular, a new parameter is included controlling the broadly or sharply peaked profile in the annular zone of tangential velocity maximum. Different combinations of varying the model parameters are considered to investigate and understand their effects on the physical behaviors of tangential wind and corresponding vertical vorticity profiles. Additionally, the parametric tangential velocity and vorticity profiles are favorably compared to those of an idealized Rankine model and also those of a theoretical stagnant core vortex model in which no tangential velocity exists within a core boundary and a potential flow occurs outside the core. Furthermore, the parametric profiles are evaluated against and compared to those of two other idealized vortex models (Burgers–Rott and Sullivan). The comparative profiles indicate very good agreements with low root-mean-square errors of a few tenths of a meter per second and high correlation coefficients of nearly one. Thus, the veracity of the parametric model is demonstrated.

An example of steady laminar flow at large Reynolds number

1960 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iam Proudman
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Reynolds Number ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Tangential Velocity ◽  
Fluid Flows ◽  
The Other ◽  
Large Reynolds Number ◽  
Rotational Flows ◽  
Flow Domain ◽  
Source Of Information

The purpose of this note is to describe a particular class of steady fluid flows, for which the techniques of classical hydrodynamics and boundary-layer theory determine uniquely the asymptotic flow for large Reynolds number for each of a continuously varied set of boundary conditions. The flows involve viscous layers in the interior of the flow domain, as well as boundary layers, and the investigation is unusual in that the position and structure of all the viscous layers are determined uniquely. The note is intended to be an illustration of the principles that lead to this determination, not a source of information of practical value.The flows take place in a two-dimensional channel with porous walls through which fluid is uniformly injected or extracted. When fluid is extracted through both walls there are boundary layers on both walls and the flow outside these layers is irrotational. When fluid is extracted through one wall and injected through the other, there is a boundary layer only on the former wall and the inviscid rotational flow outside this layer satisfies the no-slip condition on the other wall. When fluid is injected through both walls there are no boundary layers, but there is a viscous layer in the interior of the channel, across which the second derivative of the tangential velocity is discontinous, and the position of this layer is determined by the requirement that the inviscid rotational flows on either side of it must satisfy the no-slip conditions on the walls.

scholarly journals Observed Boundary Layer Wind Structure and Balance in the Hurricane Core. Part I: Hurricane Georges

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 2169-2193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey D. Kepert
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Wind Speed ◽  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Radial Profile ◽  
Lower Altitude ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Wind Structure ◽  
The Right ◽  
Tropical Cyclone Boundary Layer ◽  
Upper Boundary

Abstract The GPS dropsonde allows observations at unprecedentedly high horizontal and vertical resolution, and of very high accuracy, within the tropical cyclone boundary layer. These data are used to document the boundary layer wind field of the core of Hurricane Georges (1998) when it was close to its maximum intensity. The spatial variability of the boundary layer wind structure is found to agree very well with the theoretical predictions in the works of Kepert and Wang. In particular, the ratio of the near-surface wind speed to that above the boundary layer is found to increase inward toward the radius of maximum winds and to be larger to the left of the track than to the right, while the low-level wind maximum is both more marked and at lower altitude on the left of the storm track than on the right. However, the expected supergradient flow in the upper boundary layer is not found, with the winds being diagnosed as close to gradient balance. The tropical cyclone boundary layer model of Kepert and Wang is used to simulate the boundary layer flow in Hurricane Georges. The simulated wind profiles are in good agreement with the observations, and the asymmetries are well captured. In addition, it is found that the modeled flow in the upper boundary layer at the eyewall is barely supergradient, in contrast to previously studied cases. It is argued that this lack of supergradient flow is a consequence of the particular radial structure in Georges, which had a comparatively slow decrease of wind speed with radius outside the eyewall. This radial profile leads to a relatively weak gradient of inertial stability near the eyewall and a strong gradient at larger radii, and hence the tropical cyclone boundary layer dynamics described by Kepert and Wang can produce only marginally supergradient flow near the radius of maximum winds. The lack of supergradient flow, diagnosed from the observational analysis, is thus attributed to the large-scale structure of this particular storm. A companion paper presents a similar analysis for Hurricane Mitch (1998), with contrasting results.

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