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Environmental flow impacts on tropical cyclone inner-core structure

Principal Investigators:

Project Members:

Collaborating Scientists:

S. Lorsolo, AIR

A. Hazelton, Florida State University

R. Hart, Florida State University

R. Houze, University of Washington

J. DeHart, University of Washington

Objectives:

Investigate impact of environmental flow, in particular vertical shear, on tropical cyclone inner-core structure, using a combination of case studies and compositing techniques on a variety of observational and modeling datasets.

Accomplishments:

Active work on this topic:

1. Investigate asymmetric structures of TC’s in vertical shear using using composites of airborne Doppler radar data.  Paper published in MWR in September 2013 (Click on paper title under "Project Links" for abstract).

2. Investigate the asymmetric kinematic and thermodynamic structures of TC’s in vertical shear using composites of GPS dropsondes.  Paper published in MWR in November 2013 (Click on paper title under "Project Links" for abstract).

3. Investigate wind speed asymmetries and their relationship with storm motion and vertical shear using composites of SFMR and flight-level data. Paper has been accepted for publication in MWR (Click on paper title under "Project Links" for abstract).

4. Study the relationship between vertical shear and the azimuthal variation of the distributions of reflectivity, vertical velocity, and tangential and radial flow.  This work complements the work done by Reasor et al. (2013) in that in presents the distributions of the relevant parameters, rather than just the mean structures.  It also presents the aforementioned kinematic structures associated with the strongest up- and downdrafts as a function of azimuthal location relative to vertical shear.  Paper documenting this work is under review at JAS.

5. Document the axisymmetric and asymmetric variation of eyewall slope of the reflectivity, wind speed, and angular momentum surfaces and how they relate to environmental shear and intensity change, using composites of airborne Doppler radar data.  This work is being done in collaboration with Mr. Andrew Hazelton and Dr. Robert Hart (FSU). 

Project Links: References:

Recent publications relevant to this topic:

Reasor, P., R.F. Rogers, and S. Lorsolo, 2013: Environmental flow impacts on tropical cyclone structure diagnosed from airborne Doppler radar composites. Mon. Wea. Rev., 141, 2949-2969.

Zhang, J.A., R.F. Rogers, P. Reasor, E. Uhlhorn, and F.D. Marks, Jr., 2013: Asymmetric hurricane boundary layer structure from dropsonde composites in relation to the environmental wind shear. Mon. Wea. Rev., 141, 3968–3984.

Uhlhorn, E.W., B. Klotz, T. Vukicevic, P. Reasor, and R.F. Rogers, 2013: Observed hurricane wind speed asymmetries and relationships to motion and environmental shear. Monthly Weather Review, in press.


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