Figure 2. Plots of Maximum Potential Intensity (MPI) of tropical cyclones
against sea surface
temperatures (a): MPI estimated from monthly mean atmospheric temperature
soundings and
ocean temperatures at several tropical cyclone sites (indicated by
different symbols) and
compared with the empirical curve for North Atlantic derived by DeMaria and
Kaplan (1994);
(b): MPI estimated from greenhouse conditions constructed by adding the
MECCA model
simulated atmospheric and oceanic temperature changes near the tropical
cyclone sites in (a)
to the observed monthly mean temperature soundings at these sites.
Rhomboidal symbols
indicate these estimations at the different sites (not distinguished) and
the solid thick line is the
best fit curve to these points. Thin dashed lines indicate the sense of MPI
change and thick
vertical dash lines show the changing cyclogenesis limit.