Tropical Cyclone Energetics Revisited

Le résumé fourni par la source

Abstract Conflicting theories in the literature concerning the energy source for a tropical cyclone are reexamined using an idealized three-dimensional simulation as a basis for calculating a total energy budget over cylindrical domains with different radii. While it is clear that the ultimate source of latent heat to power a tropical cyclone must be the evaporation of seawater, a key question addressed is what the radial scale is over which the surface enthalpy fluxes provide the main energy source for a particular storm. It is found that, for the intensifying tropical cyclone in the simulation, the integrated sea surface enthalpy flux is less than the internal energy lost by precipitation within a radial scale of approximately 750 km. Moreover, for a radial scale of approximately 1500 km, the integrated surface enthalpy flux is roughly 3 times smaller than the net flux of total energy through the lateral boundary of the cylindrical domain. Some implications of these findings regarding a popular tropical cyclone theory are discussed.

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