The energetics of extratropical cyclones

Smith, Phillip J.

doi:10.1029/rg018i002p00378

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 71 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Extratropical cyclones have been the subject of studies using the Lorenz energetics in the past with emphasis on understanding the importance of heat and momentum transfers in mesoscale simulations (Smith, 1980; Robertson and Smith, 1983; Michaelides, 1992; Wahab et al , 2002; Marquet, 2003; Decker and Martin, 2005). Recently, the technique was used to study the tropical transition of the first known South Atlantic hurricane (Pezza and Simmonds, 2005) from a large‐scale energy‐transfer perspective (Veiga et al , 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental energetics of an exceptional high‐latitude storm

Pezza

Veiga

Simmonds

et al. 2010

Atmospheric Science Letters

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This study presents the Lorenz energetics of an exceptional baroclinic storm propagating to Nome (Alaska) in October 1992, where it caused severe flooding. The storm track was greatly influenced by the interaction with a blocking high a week before the cyclone was formed. The energetics gives new insights into this dramatic storm, suggesting that the large-scale environment was responsible for its long trajectory and intensification. The blocking high also provided the dynamic steering that facilitated the wave propagation and baroclinic growth. Our results show that the environmental energy transfers can be used as an informative metric for severe storms.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental energetics of an exceptional high‐latitude storm

Pezza

Veiga

Simmonds

et al. 2010

Atmospheric Science Letters

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“…Over the past few decades attention has been given to the energetics of open atmospheric systems, i.e., those for which boundary mass transport is nonzero, particularly extratropical cyclones [ Smith , 1980; Robertson and Smith , 1983; Michaelides , 1992; Wahab et al , 2002; Marquet , 2003; Decker and Martin , 2005]. Robertson and Smith [1983] found that the exchange of energy between zonal and eddy available potential energy is enhanced in moist cyclone simulations through increased horizontal eddy transport of sensible heat.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of the environmental energetics associated with the transition of the first South Atlantic hurricane

Veiga

Pezza

Simmonds

et al. 2008

Geophysical Research Letters

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This study presents the first analysis of the energetics associated with a hybrid cyclone's transition in the Southern Hemisphere, Hurricane Catarina (March 2004). Catarina has earned a place in history as the first documented South Atlantic hurricane, but its unusual tropical transition is still poorly understood. Here we show that Catarina's transition was preceded by marked environmental changes in the Lorenz energy cycle, with an abrupt shift from a baroclinic to a predominantly barotropic state. Such changes help to explain the unusual vortex's growth until its transition was completed. Although the vortex's energy flux is not explicitly calculated, a likely mechanism linking the environmental energetics with Catarina is the extraction of eddy kinetic energy from horizontal momentum and heat transfers within the through component of the blocking. The results advance the understanding of this rare event and suggest that the technique has a great potential to study transitioning systems in general.

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“…Over the past 15 to 20 years, a useful technique for diagnosing the observed behavior of extratropical cyclones has been to evaluate their energy budgets. Most of these investigations have been case studies of individual cyclone events (see, for example, the review by Smith (1980)), although a notable effort to establish the mean energetics of cyclones was published by Kung and Baker (1975). The bulk of published works in this field have dealt only with particular components of the energy budget.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…( 2 ) to further comment on the significance of moist processes in the cyclone's evolution. through the Eulerian kinetic energy budget equation, given by Smith (1980) z = geopotential height of pressure surfaces; p = pressure; w = vertical motion in isobaric coordinates, dpldt: V = horizontal del operator on a pressure surface; x, y = westkeast, south-north coordinates in a spherical curvilinear coordinate system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The kinetic and available potential energy budget of a winter extratropical cyclone system

Smith¹,

Dare²

1986

Tellus A

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The energy budget of an extratropical cyclone system which traversed North America and intensified through the period 9-1 1 January 1975 is presented. The objectives of the study are (1) to document the complete energy budget of a significant winter cyclone event. and (2) to comment on the significance of latent heat release (LHR) in the cyclone's evolution. Results reveal an overall increase in both kinetic ( K ) and available potential energy ( A ) . K increases are accounted for by boundary flux convergence of K , while A increases are due to generation by LHR and K to A conversion. In addition, the general A increase is accompanied by a 24 h oscillation that is explained largely by the flux quantity in the A budget equation and is correlated with a similar fluctuation in the K to A conversion.LHR does not appear to be critical in the development of this cyclone system. Rather. LHR acts to increase the intensity of the event. It is hypothesized that the direct influence that LHR had on the deepening cyclone's reduced mass was augmented by an indirect influence, in which pre-existing dry dynamical forcing was enhanced by diabatic heating. thus leading to accelerated cyclone development at a later time.

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The energetics of extratropical cyclones

Cited by 19 publications

References 71 publications

Environmental energetics of an exceptional high‐latitude storm

Environmental energetics of an exceptional high‐latitude storm

An analysis of the environmental energetics associated with the transition of the first South Atlantic hurricane

The kinetic and available potential energy budget of a winter extratropical cyclone system

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