COSEE Ocean Systems: News
The Relationship between Hurricane Potential Intensity and CAPE
Description: The theoretical minimum eyewall pressure of tropical cyclones can be computed from convective available potential energy (CAPE) if the buoyancy in the CAPE is allowed to feed back on the surface pressure via hydrostatic balance. The relationship between this so-called hurricane CAPE and the surface pressure is exploited by a widely used algorithm for hurricane potential intensity (PI). For the observed atmosphere, the algorithm is shown to yield significantly weaker pressure intensity (20%-25%) and velocity intensity (5%-10%) than the most familiar analytical formulas. This discrepancy is found to come mostly from thermodynamic approximations in the formulas. [Source: Journal of Atmospheric Sciences]
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-14-0008.1
Availability: Summary
Source: Journal of Atmospheric Sciences
Publish Date: 1/1/2015
Reading Level: Expert
Page Length:  

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