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Dependence of Tropical Cyclone Intensification on the Latitude under Vertical Shear

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Abstract

The sensitivity of tropical cyclone (TC) intensification to the ambient rotation effect under vertical shear is investigated. The results show that the vortices develop more rapidly with intermediate planetary vorticity, which suggests an optimal latitude for the TC development in the presence of vertical shear. This is different from the previous studies in which no mean flow is considered. It is found that the ambient rotation has two main effects. On the one hand, the boundary layer imbalance is largely controlled by the Coriolis parameter. For TCs at lower latitudes, due to the weaker inertial instability, the boundary inflow is promptly established, which results in a stronger moisture convergence and thus greater diabatic heating in the inner core region. On the other hand, the Coriolis parameter modulates the vertical realignment of the vortex with a higher Coriolis parameter, favoring a quicker vertical realignment and thus a greater potential for TC development. The combination of these two effects results in an optimal latitude for TC intensification in the presence of a vertical shear investigated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters/Key laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Nanjing University of Information Science &Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Mingyu Bi & Xuyang Ge

  2. International Pacific Research Center/Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Tim Li

Authors
  1. Mingyu Bi
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  2. Xuyang Ge
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  3. Tim Li
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Correspondence to Xuyang Ge.

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41575056, 41775058, 41575043, and 41375095), National (Key) Basic Research and Development (973) Program of China (2015CB452803), National Key Research Project (2017YFA0603802), Key University Science Research Project of Jiangsu Province (14KJA170005), and Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).

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Bi, M., Ge, X. & Li, T. Dependence of Tropical Cyclone Intensification on the Latitude under Vertical Shear. J Meteorol Res 32, 113–123 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-018-7055-4

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