Acceleration of tropical cyclogenesis by self-aggregation feedbacks
Abstract
Idealized simulations of tropical moist convection have revealed that clouds can spontaneously clump together in a process called self-aggregation. This results in a state where a moist cloudy region with intense deep convection is surrounded by extremely dry subsiding air devoid of deep convection. Because of the idealized settings of the simulations where it was discovered, the relevance of self-aggregation to the real world is still debated. Here in this study, we show that self-aggregation feedbacks play a leadingorder role in the spontaneous genesis of tropical cyclones in cloudresolving simulations. Those feedbacks accelerate the cyclogenesis process by a factor of 2, and the feedbacks contributing to the cyclone formation show qualitative and quantitative agreement with the self-aggregation process. Once the cyclone is formed, wind-induced surface heat exchange (WISHE) effects dominate, although we find that self-aggregation feedbacks have a small but nonnegligible contribution to the maintenance of the mature cyclone. In conclusion, our results suggest that self-aggregation, and the framework developed for its study, can help shed more light into the physical processes leading to cyclogenesis and cyclone intensification. In particular, our results point out the importance of the longwave radiative cooling outside the cyclone.
- Authors:
-
- Sorbonne Université, École Polytechnique, CNRS, Paris (France). Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD)/Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL), École Normale Supérieure, Paris Sciences & Lettres (PSL) Research University
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Department of Earth and Planetary Science; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1479393
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 115; Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424
- Publisher:
- National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; tropical cyclones; convective aggregation; deep convection; tropical cyclogenesis; tropical cyclone intensification
Citation Formats
Muller, Caroline J., and Romps, David M.. Acceleration of tropical cyclogenesis by self-aggregation feedbacks. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1073/pnas.1719967115.
Muller, Caroline J., & Romps, David M.. Acceleration of tropical cyclogenesis by self-aggregation feedbacks. United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1719967115
Muller, Caroline J., and Romps, David M.. Mon .
"Acceleration of tropical cyclogenesis by self-aggregation feedbacks". United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1719967115. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1479393.
@article{osti_1479393,
title = {Acceleration of tropical cyclogenesis by self-aggregation feedbacks},
author = {Muller, Caroline J. and Romps, David M.},
abstractNote = {Idealized simulations of tropical moist convection have revealed that clouds can spontaneously clump together in a process called self-aggregation. This results in a state where a moist cloudy region with intense deep convection is surrounded by extremely dry subsiding air devoid of deep convection. Because of the idealized settings of the simulations where it was discovered, the relevance of self-aggregation to the real world is still debated. Here in this study, we show that self-aggregation feedbacks play a leadingorder role in the spontaneous genesis of tropical cyclones in cloudresolving simulations. Those feedbacks accelerate the cyclogenesis process by a factor of 2, and the feedbacks contributing to the cyclone formation show qualitative and quantitative agreement with the self-aggregation process. Once the cyclone is formed, wind-induced surface heat exchange (WISHE) effects dominate, although we find that self-aggregation feedbacks have a small but nonnegligible contribution to the maintenance of the mature cyclone. In conclusion, our results suggest that self-aggregation, and the framework developed for its study, can help shed more light into the physical processes leading to cyclogenesis and cyclone intensification. In particular, our results point out the importance of the longwave radiative cooling outside the cyclone.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1719967115},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
number = 12,
volume = 115,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {3}
}
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:

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Figures / Tables found in this record: