Sensitivity of the Intensity and Structure of Tropical Cyclones to Tropospheric Stability Conditions

Abstract

The intensity of tropical cyclones (TCs) is controlled by their environmental conditions. In addition to the sea surface temperature, tropospheric temperature lapse rate and tropopause height are highly variable. This study investigates the sensitivity of the intensity and structure of TCs to environmental static stability with a fixed sea surface temperature by conducting a large ensemble of axisymmetric numerical experiments in which tropopause height and tropospheric temperature lapse rate are systematically changed based on the observed environmental properties for TCs that occurred in the western North Pacific. The results indicate that the intensity of the simulated TCs changes more sharply with the increase in the temperature lapse rate than with the increase in the tropopause height. The increases in the intensity of TCs are 1.3–1.9 m s−1 per 1% change of the lapse rate and 0.1–0.5 m s−1 per 1% change of the tropopause height. With the increase in the intensity of TCs, supergradient wind at low levels and double warm core structures are evident. Specifically, the formation of the warm core at the lower levels is closely tied with the intensification of TCs, and the temperature excess of the lower warm core becomes larger in higher lapse rate cases.