scholarly journals Toward an Understanding of Tropical Cyclone Formation with a Nonhydrostatic, Mesoscale-Convection-Resolving Model§

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-50
Author(s):  
Masanori Yamasaki
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Numerical Experiments ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Initial Time ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Vortex Center ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Mesoscale Convection ◽  
Tropical Cyclone Formation ◽  
Convective Systems

This paper describes results from numerical experiments which have been made toward a better understanding of tropical cyclone formation. This study uses a nonhydrostatic version of the author’s mesoscale-convection-resolving model that was developed in the 1980s to improve paramerization schemes of moist convection. In this study the horizontal grid size is taken to be 20 km in an area of 6,000 km x 3,000 km, and a non-uniform coarse grid is used in two areas to its north and south. Results from two numerical experiments are presented; one (case 1) without any environmental flow, and the other (case 2) with an easterly flow without low-level vertical shear. Three circular buoyancy perturbations are placed in the west-east direction at the initial time. Convection is initiated in the imposed latently unstable (positive CAPE) area. In both cases, a vortex with a pressure low is formed, and two band-shaped convective systems are formed to the north and the south of the vortex center. The vortex and two convective systems are oriented in the westsouthwest – eastnortheast direction, and their horizontal scales are nearly 2,000 km. In case 1, the band-shaped convective system on the southern side is stronger, and winds are stronger just to its south. In contrast, in case 2, the northern convective system is stronger, and winds are stronger just to its north. Therefore, the distributions of the equivalent potential temperature in the boundary layer and latent instability (positive buoyancy of the rising air) are also quite different between cases 1 and 2. The TC formation processes in these different cases are discussed, with an emphasis on the importance of examining the time change of latent instability field.

scholarly journals Toward an Understanding of the Madden-Julian Oscillation: With a Mesoscale-Convection-Resolving Model of 0.2 Degree Grid

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masanori Yamasaki
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Experiments ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Warm Pool ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Madden Julian Oscillation ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Mesoscale Convection ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sst Anomaly

This paper describes results from numerical experiments which have been performed as the author's first step toward a better understanding of the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO). This study uses the author's mesoscale-convection-resolving model that was developed in the 1980s to improve parametrization schemes of moist convection. Results from numerical experiments by changing the SST anomaly in the warm pool area indicate that the period of the MJO does not monotonously change with increasing SST anomaly. Between the two extreme cases (no anomaly and strong anomaly), there is a regime in which the period varies in a wide range from 20 to 60 days. In the case of no warm pool, eastward-propagating Kelvin waves are dominant, whereas in the case of a strong warm pool, it produces a quasi-stationary convective system (with pronounced time variation). In a certain regime between the two extreme cases, convective activities with two different properties are strongly interacted, and the period of oscillations becomes complicated. The properties and behaviors of large-scale convective system (LCS), synoptic-scale convective system (SCS), mesoscale convective system (MCS), and mesoscale convection (MC), which constitute the hierarchical structure of the MJO, are also examined. It is also shown that cloud clusters, which constitute the SCS (such as super cloud cluster SCC), consist of a few MCS, and a new MCS forms to the west of the existing MCS. The northwesterly and southwesterly low-level flows contribute to this feature. In view of recent emphasis of the importance of the relative humidity above the boundary layer, it is shown that the model can simulate convective processes that moisten the atmosphere, and the importance of latent instability (positive CAPE), which is a necessary condition for the wave-CISK, is emphasized.

Mesoscale Convective Vortices in Multiscale, Idealized Simulations: Dependence on Background State, Interdependency with Moist Baroclinic Cyclones, and Comparison with BAMEX Observations

2010 ◽  
Vol 138 (4) ◽  
pp. 1119-1139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Conzemius ◽  
Michael T. Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Tangential Velocity ◽  
Mesoscale Convective System ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Pressure Amplitude ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Mesoscale Convective ◽  
Common Center ◽  
Deep Moist Convection ◽  
Convective Vortices

Abstract A set of multiscale, nested, idealized numerical simulations of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) and mesoscale convective vortices (MCVs) was conducted. The purpose of these simulations was to investigate the dependence of MCV development and evolution on background conditions and to explore the relationship between MCVs and larger, moist baroclinic cyclones. In all experiments, no mesoscale convective system (MCS) developed until a larger-scale, moist baroclinic system with surface pressure amplitude of at least 2 hPa was present. The convective system then enhanced the development of the moist baroclinic system by its diabatic production of eddy available potential energy (APE), which led to the enhanced baroclinic conversion of basic-state APE to eddy APE. The most rapid potential vorticity (PV) development occurred in and just behind the leading convective line. The entire system grew upscale with time as the newly created PV rotated cyclonically around a common center as the leading convective line continued to expand outward. Ten hours after the initiation of deep moist convection, the simulated MCV radii, heights of maximum winds, tangential velocity, and shear corresponded reasonably well to their counterparts in BAMEX. The increasing strength of the simulated MCVs with respect to larger values of background CAPE and shear supports the hypothesis that as long as convection is present, CAPE and shear both add to the strength of the MCV.

scholarly journals A Subtropical Oceanic Mesoscale Convective Vortex Observed during SoWMEX/TiMREX

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (8) ◽  
pp. 2367-2385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsiao-Wei Lai ◽  
Christopher A. Davis ◽  
Ben Jong-Dao Jou
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Mesoscale Convective System ◽  
Southwest Monsoon ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Vortex Center ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Mesoscale Convective ◽  
Deep Moist Convection ◽  
Mesoscale Convective Vortex

AbstractThis study examines a subtropical oceanic mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) that occurred from 1800 UTC 4 June to 1200 UTC 6 June 2008 during intensive observing period (IOP) 6 of the Southwest Monsoon Experiment (SoWMEX) and the Terrain-influenced Monsoon Rainfall Experiment (TiMREX). A dissipating mesoscale convective system reorganized within a nearly barotropic vorticity strip, which formed as a southwesterly low-level jet developed to the south of subsiding easterly flow over the southern Taiwan Strait. A cyclonic circulation was revealed on the northern edge of the mesoscale rainband with a horizontal scale of 200 km. An inner subvortex, on a scale of 25–30 km with maximum shear vorticity of 3 × 10−3 s−1, was embedded in the stronger convection. The vortex-relative southerly flow helped create local potential instability favorable for downshear convection enhancement. Strong low-level convergence suggests that stretching occurred within the MCV. Higher θe air, associated with significant potential and conditional instability, and high reflectivity signatures near the vortex center suggest that deep moist convection was responsible for the vortex stretching. Dry rear inflow penetrated into the MCV and suppressed convection in the upshear direction. A mesolow was also roughly observed within the larger vortex. The presence of intense vertical wind shear in the higher troposphere limited the vortex vertical extent to about 6 km.

scholarly journals A Numerical Study of the Impacts of Dry Air on Tropical Cyclone Formation: A Development Case and a Nondevelopment Case

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cody Fritz ◽  
Zhuo Wang
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Trajectory Analysis ◽  
Air Entrainment ◽  
Vertical Transport ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Dry Air ◽  
Tropical Cyclone Formation ◽  
Budget Analysis

Abstract The impacts of dry air on tropical cyclone formation are examined in the numerical model simulations of ex-Gaston (2010) and pre-Fay (2008). The former, a remnant low downgraded from a short-lived tropical cyclone, can be regarded as a nondeveloping system because it failed to redevelop, and the latter developed into a tropical cyclone despite lateral dry air entrainment and a transient upper-level dry air intrusion. Water vapor budget analysis suggests that the mean vertical moisture transport plays the dominant role in moistening the free atmosphere. Backward trajectory analysis and water budget analysis show that vertical transport of dry air from the middle and upper troposphere, where a well-defined wave pouch is absent, contributes to the midlevel drying near the pouch center in ex-Gaston. The midlevel drying suppresses deep convection, reduces moisture supply from the boundary layer, and contributes to the nondevelopment of ex-Gaston. Three-dimensional trajectory analysis based on the numerical model simulation of Fay suggests that dry air entrained at the pouch periphery tends to stay off the pouch center because of the weak midlevel inflow or gets moistened along its path even if it is being wrapped into the wave pouch. Lateral entrainment in the middle troposphere thus does not suppress convection near the pouch center or prevent the development of Tropical Storm Fay. This study suggests that the upper troposphere is a weak spot of the wave pouch at the early formation stage and that the vertical transport is likely a more direct pathway for dry air to influence moist convection near the pouch center.

scholarly journals Effects of Vertical Shears and Midlevel Dry Air on Tropical Cyclone Developments*

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (12) ◽  
pp. 3859-3875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuyang Ge ◽  
Tim Li ◽  
Melinda Peng
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Vertical Alignment ◽  
Shear Forces ◽  
Dry Air ◽  
Vertically Aligned ◽  
The Impact

Abstract A set of idealized experiments using the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) were designed to investigate the impacts of a midlevel dry air layer, vertical shear, and their combined effects on tropical cyclone (TC) development. Compared with previous studies that focused on the relative radial position of dry air with no mean flow, it is found that the combined effect of dry air and environmental vertical shear can greatly affect TC development. Moreover, this study indicates the importance of dry air and vertical shear orientations in determining the impact. The background vertical shear causes the tilting of an initially vertically aligned vortex. The shear forces a secondary circulation (FSC) with ascent (descent) in the downshear (upshear) flank. Hence, convection tends to be favored on the downshear side. The FSC reinforced by the convection may overcome the shear-induced drifting and “restore” the vertical alignment. When dry air is located in the downshear-right quadrant of the initial vortex, the dry advection by cyclonic circulation brings the dry air to the downshear side and suppresses moist convection therein. Such a process disrupts the “restoring” mechanism associated with the FSC and thus inhibits TC development. The sensitivity experiments show that, for a fixed dry air condition, a marked difference occurs in TC development between an easterly and a westerly shear background.

Mechanisms for Quasi-Stationary Behavior in Simulated Heavy-Rain-Producing Convective Systems

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 1543-1568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russ S. Schumacher
Keyword(s):  
Deep Convection ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Cold Pool ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Deep Moist Convection

Abstract In this study, idealized numerical simulations are used to identify the processes responsible for initiating, organizing, and maintaining quasi-stationary convective systems that produce locally extreme rainfall amounts. Of particular interest are those convective systems that have been observed to occur near mesoscale convective vortices (MCVs) and other midlevel circulations. To simulate the lifting associated with such circulations, a low-level momentum forcing is applied to an initial state that is representative of observed extreme rain events. The initial vertical wind profile includes a sharp reversal of the vertical wind shear with height, indicative of observed low-level jets. Deep moist convection initiates within the region of mesoscale lifting, and the resulting convective system replicates many of the features of observed systems. The low-level thermodynamic environment is nearly saturated, which is not conducive to the production of a strong surface cold pool; yet the convection quickly organizes into a back-building line. It is shown that a nearly stationary convectively generated low-level gravity wave is responsible for the linear organization, which continues for several hours. New convective cells repeatedly form on the southwest end of the line and move to the northeast, resulting in large local rainfall amounts. In the later stages of the simulated convective system, a cold pool does develop, but its interaction with the strong reverse shear at low levels is not optimized for the maintenance of deep convection along its edge. A series of sensitivity experiments shows some of the effects of hydrometeor evaporation and melting, planetary rotation, and the imposed mesoscale forcing.

Mesoscale Structural Evolution of Three Tropical Weather Systems Observed during PREDICT

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 1284-1305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Davis ◽  
David A. Ahijevych
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Structural Evolution ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Moist Convection ◽  
Dry Air ◽  
Mesoscale Dynamics ◽  
Tropospheric Circulation ◽  
Deep Moist Convection ◽  
Tropical Weather

Abstract Three well-observed Atlantic tropical weather systems that occurred during the 2010 hurricane season are analyzed. One case was former Tropical Storm Gaston that failed to redevelop into a tropical cyclone; the other two cases were developing storms Karl and Matthew. Geostationary satellite, multisensor-derived precipitation, and dropsondes from the National Science Foundation (NSF)–NCAR Gulfstream V (GV), NASA DC-8, and the NOAA Gulfstream IV (G-IV) and WP-3D Orion (P-3) aircraft are analyzed in a system-following frame to quantify the mesoscale dynamics of these systems. Gaston featured extensive dry air surrounding an initially moist core. Vertical shear forced a misalignment of midtropospheric and lower-tropospheric circulation centers. This misalignment allowed dry air to intrude above the lower-tropospheric center and severely limited the area influenced by deep moist convection, thus providing little chance of maintaining or rebuilding the vortex in sheared flow. By contrast, Karl and Matthew developed in a moister environment overall, with moisture increasing with time in the middle and upper troposphere. Deep moist convection was quasi-diurnal prior to genesis. For Karl, deep convection was initially organized away from the lower-tropospheric circulation center, creating a misalignment of the vortex. The vortex gradually realigned over several days and genesis followed this realignment within roughly one day. Matthew experienced weaker shear, was vertically aligned through most of its early evolution, and developed more rapidly than Karl. The evolutions of the three cases are interpreted in the context of recent theories of tropical cyclone formation.

scholarly journals Development and Nondevelopment of Binary Mesoscale Vortices into Tropical Cyclones in Idealized Numerical Experiments

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 1223-1254 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Schecter
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Potential Vorticity ◽  
Numerical Experiments ◽  
Separation Distance ◽  
Rapid Intensification ◽  
Tropical Cyclone Formation ◽  
Vortex Separation ◽  
Cloud Resolving Model ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract The evolution of two symmetric midlevel mesoscale vortices situated above a warm ocean is examined with a basic cloud-resolving model. Idealized numerical experiments provide insight into how the evolution may vary with the initial vortex separation distance D and other parameters that influence the time scale for an isolated vortex to begin rapid intensification. The latter parameters include the ambient middle-tropospheric relative humidity (RH) and the initial midlevel wind speed of each vortex. At relatively low RH, there exists an interval of D where binary midlevel vortex interaction prevents tropical cyclone formation. While tropical cyclones generally develop at high RH, similar values of D can delay the process if the vortices are initially weak. Prevention or inhibition of tropical cyclone formation occurs in association with the outward expulsion of lower-tropospheric potential vorticity anomalies as the two vortices merge in the middle troposphere. It is proposed that the primary mechanism for midlevel merger and low-level potential vorticity expulsion involves the excitation of rotating misalignments in each vortex. An analog model based on this premise provides a good approximation for the range of D in which the merger–expulsion scenario occurs. Relatively strong vortices in high-RH environments promptly develop vigorous convection and begin rapid intensification. Differences between the interaction of such diabatic vortices and their adiabatic counterparts are briefly illustrated. In systems that generate tropical cyclones, the mature vortex properties (size and strength) are found to vary significantly with D.

scholarly journals Cyclogenesis off the African Coast: The Case of Cindy in August 1999

2005 ◽  
Vol 133 (9) ◽  
pp. 2803-2813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saïdou Moustapha Sall ◽  
Henri Sauvageot
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Longwave Radiation ◽  
Mesoscale Convective System ◽  
Precipitable Water ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Convective System ◽  
Infrared Observation ◽  
African Coast ◽  
Environmental Prediction

Abstract Using radar data from Dakar (Sengal), National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP–NCAR) reanalyses, outgoing longwave radiation provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) satellite series as well as data from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), a cyclogenesis process leading to the birth of a tropical cyclone from a Sahelian mesoscale convective system (MCS) off the African coast of Senegal is described. The cause of this evolution seems to be the coincidence of the MCS with an easterly wave over a warm sea, the presence of a wide area of precipitable water vapor, strong convergence in the low and midtropospheric layers, and an easterly vertical shear of the zonal wind. As a result, a dynamically well organized convective system built up and the system rapidly strengthened. Before moving away from the African coast of Senegal, this perturbation, which became the tropical cyclone “Cindy,” caused the wreck of more than a hundred fishing pirogues and the deaths of many fishermen because of the suddenness and speed of the phenomenon.

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