Investigating interactions between the TC inner core and near environment and their impacts on intensity change & the evolution of the tropical marine boundary layer across transitional boundaries
Abstract
The proposed research is a collaborative effort between the University of Miami (UM) and the NOAA/AOML/Hurricane Research Division,in response to the new ONR Moisture and Aerosol Gradients / Physics of Inversion Evolution (MAGPIE) Directed Research Initiative (DRI) and its overarching goal to examine #how cloud related atmospheric exchange and radiation processes regulate the inversion lifecycle and affect coupled marine boundary layer and ocean processes#. This work also proposes to continue previously funded work underthe Tropical Cyclone Rapid Intensification (TCRI) DRI that focuses on advancing the understanding of tropical cyclone (TC) structure evolution as it relates to the intensification problem through theory, simulations, observations and model development. Key hypotheses of this proposal emphasize the multiscale interactions between the environmental kinematic and thermodynamic conditions and theinner-core precipitation and kinematic structure and evolution for TCs undergoing tropical cyclogenesis or rapid intensification. The emphasis is on factors that modulate the spatiotemporal distribution of latent heating and how those distributions favor the development of a deep, closed cyclonic circulation from the surface to the upper troposphere. These are conditions known to be crucial for TC development. In the case of tropical cyclogenesis (addressed with the MAGPIE collaboration), the primary goal is to investigate the marine boundary layer structure, evolution, and its multiscale interaction with the mesoscale thermodynamic and kinematic environments (e.g., African Easterly Waves (AEWs) and the Saharan Air Layer (SAL)) associated with pre-genesis tropical disturbances, differentiating between developing and non-developing systems. In the case of rapid intensification (addressed with the TCRI collaboration), the primary goal is to investigate how thermodynamic and kinematic variability in the region of the TC near-environment is communicated to the inner-core latent heating structure (inferred by measurements of cloud, precipitation, wind, and temperature), andhow this communication varies over a diurnal time scale.To test these overarching hypotheses, observations from multiple aircraft will be examined, including NOAA#s P-3 Orions and G-IV high-altitude jet. New analysis tools that have been developed by members of the proposal team will be used to optimize the use of data that is collected during the MAGPIE field campaign. These include tools toanalyze the shear-relative thermodynamic and kinematic characteristics from GPS dropsonde observations and a precipitation mode partitioning algorithm for the P-3 tail Doppler radar that partitions precipitation into stratiform and deep, moderate, and shallow convective modes. Through the various efforts of the proposed project, it is expected that new conclusions and understanding will be reached on TC genesis and RI processes and predictability and the tropical marine boundary layer.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 09, 2024
- Source ID
- N000142412761
Entities
People
- Jason Dunion
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Miami