Tropical cyclones (TC) transfer kinetic energy to the upper ocean and thus accelerate the ocean mixed layer (OML) currents. However, the quantitative link between near‐surface currents and high wind speeds, under extreme weather conditions, remains poorly understood. In this study, we use multi‐mission satellites and drifting‐buoy observations to investigate the connections between TC surface winds and currents, including their spatial distribution characteristics. Observed ageostrophic current speeds in the OML increase linearly with wind speeds (for the range 20–50 m/s). The ratios of the ageostrophic current speeds to the wind speeds are found to vary with TC quadrants. In particular, the mean ratio is around 2% in the left‐front and left‐rear quadrants with relatively small variability, compared to between 2% and 4% in the right‐front and right‐rear quadrants, with much higher variations. Surface winds and currents both exhibit strong asymmetric features, with the largest wind speeds and currents on the TC right side. In the eyewall region of Hurricane Igor, high winds (e.g., about 47 m/s) induce strong currents (about 2 m/s). The directional rotations of surface winds and currents are resonant and dependent on the location within the storm. Wind directions are approximately aligned with current directions in the right‐front quadrant; a difference of about 90° occurs in the left‐front and left‐rear quadrants. The directional discrepancy between winds and currents in the right‐rear quadrant is smaller. Reliable observations of the wind‐current relation, including asymmetric features, support published theories developed in idealized numerical experiments to explain the upper ocean response to TCs.
The distribution of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and its budget terms is estimated in simulated tropical cyclones (TCs) of various intensities. Each simulated TC is subject to storm motion, wind shear, and oceanic coupling. Different storm intensities are achieved through different ocean profiles in the model initialization. For each oceanic profile, the atmospheric simulations are performed with and without TKE advection. In all simulations, the TKE is maximized at low levels (i.e., below 1 km) and ∼0.5 km radially inward of the azimuthal‐mean radius of maximum wind speed at 1‐km height. As in a previous study, the axisymmetric TKE decreases with height in the eyewall, but more abruptly in simulations without TKE advection. The largest TKE budget terms are shear generation and dissipation, though variability in vertical turbulent transport and buoyancy production affect the change in the azimuthal‐mean TKE distribution. The general relationships between the TKE budget terms are consistent across different radii, regardless of storm intensity. In terms of the asymmetric distribution in the eyewall, TKE is maximized in the front‐left quadrant where the sea surface temperature (SST) is highest and is minimized in the rear‐right quadrant where the SST is the lowest. In the category‐5 simulation, the height of the TKE maximum varies significantly in the eyewall between quadrants and is between ∼400 m in the rear‐right quadrant and ∼1,000 m in the front‐left quadrant. When TKE advection is included in the simulations, the maximum eyewall TKE values are downwind compared to the simulations without TKE advection.
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10414161
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
- Volume:
- 15
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 1942-2466
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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