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Simulated dynamics and thermodynamics processes leading to the rapid intensification of rare tropical cyclones over the North Indian Oceans

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Abstract

The life cycle dynamics and intensification processes of three long-duration tropical cyclones (TCs), viz., Fani (2019), Luban (2018), and Ockhi (2017) formed over the North Indian Ocean (NIO) have been investigated by developing a high-resolution (6 km × 6 km) mesoscale analysis using WRF and En3DVAR data assimilation system. The release of CAPE in nearly saturated middle-level relative humidity caused intense diabatic heating, leading to an increase in low-level convergence triggering rapid intensification (RI). The strengthening of the relative vorticity tendency terms was due to vertical stretching (TC Fani) and middle tropospheric advection (TCs Luban and Ockhi). The increase or decrease in upper-tropospheric divergence led to RI through two different mechanisms. The increase in upper divergence strengthens the vortical convection (in TC Luban and Fani) by enhancing the moisture and heat transport, whereas its decrease caused a reduction in the upper-level ventilation flow at 200 hPa followed by moisture accumulation, enhanced diabatic heating, and strengthened the warm core (TC Ockhi). The RI caused the vortex of three cyclones to extend up to the upper troposphere. The well organised wind during RI led the unorganised, weak, discontinuous vertical vortex columns to become organised with intense vertical velocity throughout the column. Spatial distributions of Okubo–Wiess (OW) parameter showed TC core dominated by vorticity than strain, since deep depression (DD) stages.

Highlights

  • The saturated middle-level relative humidity caused intense diabatic heating, and then release of CAPE led to a rise in low-level spin-up triggering the RI.

  • The strengthening of the relative vorticity tendency terms was due to stretching (TC Fani) and middle tropospheric advection (TCs Luban and Ockhi).

  • The increase or decrease in upper-tropospheric divergence led to RI through two different mechanisms.

  • The RI caused the vortex of three cyclones to extend up to the upper troposphere.

  • RI led unorganised, weak, discontinuous vertical vortex columns to become organised with intense vertical velocity throughout the column.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Dr Amit Kumar Patra and Prof V K Dadhwal, Directors, NARL, and IIST, for their support and guidance. The authors are also grateful to the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, for providing SCATSAT1 scatterometer data. They also would like to thank KNMI for distributing ASCAT data and the Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array Project Office by NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) for RAMA buoy data. The authors also acknowledge Remote Sensing Systems for Windsat data and are grateful to NCAR for providing the WRF model and WRFDA modelling system. Finally, the authors are thankful to NCEP and NCAR for providing GFS and GDAS radiance datasets for generating high-resolution mesoscale analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Department of Space, Govt. of India, Gadanki, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, 517 112, India

    Arpita Munsi, Amit Kesarkar, Jyoti Bhate, Kasturi Singh & Abhishek Panchal

  2. Indian Institute of Space Technology, Valaimala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 695 547, India

    Arpita Munsi & Govindan Kutty

  3. India Meteorological Department, Mausam Bhavan, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India

    Ramkumar Giri

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  1. Arpita Munsi
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  2. Amit Kesarkar
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Contributions

AM: Simulations, data analysis, visualisation, writing initial manuscript draft; AK: conception, manuscript draft revision, supervision; JB: data assimilation experiments, manuscript draft revision, supervision; KS: methodology, analysis manuscript draft revision, supervision; AP: visualisation; GK: manuscript draft revision, supervision; and RG: manuscript draft revision, supervision.

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Correspondence to Amit Kesarkar.

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Communicated by Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay

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Munsi, A., Kesarkar, A., Bhate, J. et al. Simulated dynamics and thermodynamics processes leading to the rapid intensification of rare tropical cyclones over the North Indian Oceans. J Earth Syst Sci 131, 211 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-022-01951-9

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