The Upper Ocean Thermal Structure and the Genesis Locations of Tropical Cyclones in the South China Sea

The relationship between the upper ocean thermal structure and the genesis locations of tropical cyclones (TCs) in the South China Sea (SCS) is investigated by using the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) best-track archives and high resolution (1/4 degree) temperature analyses of the world's oceans in this paper. In the monthly mean genesis positions of TCs from 1945 to 2005 in the SCS, the mean sea surface temperature (SST) was 28.8℃ and the mean depth of 26℃ water was 53.1 m. From the monthly distribution maps of genesis positions of TCs, SST and the depth of 26℃ water in the SCS, we discovered that there existed regions with SST exceeding 26℃ and 26℃ water depth exceeding 50 m where no tropical cyclones formed from 1945 to 2005 in the SCS, which suggests that there were other factors unfavorable for TC formation in these regions.

Numerical Simulation of the Genesis of Typhoon Durian (2001) over the South China Sea:the Effect of Sea Surface Temperature

Typhoon Durian (2001),which formed over the South China Sea (SCS),was simulated by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The genesis of typhoon Durian which formed in the monsoon trough was reproduced by numerical simulations. The simulated results agree reasonably well with observations. Two numerical experiments in which the sea surface temperature (SST) was either decreased or increased were performed to investigate the impact of the SST on the genesis of the ty-phoon. When the SST was decreased by 5℃ uniformly for all grids in the model,the winds calculated became divergent in the lower troposphere and convergent in the upper troposphere,creating conditions in which the amount of total latent heat release (TLHR) was low and the tropical cyclone (TC) could not be formed. This simulation shows the importance of the convergence in the lower tropo-sphere and the divergence in the upper troposphere for the genesis of the initial vortex. When the SST was increased by 1℃ uni-formly for all grids,a stronger typhoon was generated in the results with an increase of about 10 m s-1 in the maximum surface wind speed. Only minor differences in intensity were noted during the first 54 h in the simulation with the warmer SST,but apparent dif-ferences in intensity occurred after 54 h when the vortex began to strengthen to typhoon strength. This experiment shows that warmer SST will speed the strengthening from tropical storm strength to typhoon strength and increase the maximum intensity reached,while only minor impact can be seen during the earlier stage of genesis before the TC reaches the tropical storm strength. The results sug-gest that the amount of TLHR may be the dominant factor in determining the formation and the intensification of the TC.

Features of Ocean Surface Winds Observed by the QuikSCAT Satellite Before Tropical Cyclogenesis over the South China Sea

Ocean surface winds observed by the Quick Scatterometer(QuikSCAT) satellite prior to the geneses of 36 tropical cy-clones(TCs) in the South China Sea(SCS) are investigated in this paper. The results show that there are areas with negative mean horizontal divergence around the TC genesis locations three days prior to TC formation. The divergence term [-(f+ζ)(u/x+v/y) ] in the vorticity equation is calculated based upon the QuikSCAT ocean surface wind data. The calculated mean divergence term is about 10.3 times the mean relative vorticity increase rate around the TC genesis position one day prior to TC genesis,which shows the important contributions of the divergence term to the vorticity increase prior to TC formation. It is suggested that criteria related with the divergence and divergence term be applied in early detections of tropical cyclogenesis using the QuikSCAT satellite data.