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Structure of the highly sheared tropical storm chantal during camex-4
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Tian, L. Simpson, Joanne Molinari, J. Halverson, J. Ritchie, E. Heymsfield, G. M. |
| Copyright Year | 2004 |
| Description | NASA's 4th Convection and Moisture Experiment (CAMEX-4) focused on Atlantic hurricanes during the 2001 hurricane season and it involved both NASA and NOAA participation. The NASA ER-2 and DC-8 aircraft were instrumented with unique remote sensing instruments to help increase the overall understanding of hurricanes. This paper is concerned about one of the storms studied, Tropical Storm Chantal, that was a weak storm which failed to intense into a hurricane. One of the practical questions of high importance is why some tropical sto~ins intensify into hurricanes, and others remain weak or die altogether. The magnitude of the difference between the horizontal winds at lower levels and upper altitudes in a tropical storm, i.e., the wind shear, is one important quantity that can affect the intensification of a tropical storm. Strong shear as was present during Tropical Storm Chantal s lifetime and it was detrimental to its intensification. The paper presents an analysis of unique aircraft observations collected from Chantal including an on-board radar, radiometers, dropsondes, and flight level measurements. These measurements have enabled us to examine the internal structure of the winds and thermal structure of Chantal. Most of the previous studies have involved intense hurricanes that overcame the effects of shear and this work has provided new insights into what prevents a weaker storm from intensifying. The storm had extremely intense thunderstorms and rainfall, yet its main circulation was confined to low levels of the atmosphere. Chantal's thermal structure was not configured properly for the storm to intensify. It is most typical that huricanes have a warm core structure where warm temperatures in upper levels of a storm s circulation help intensify surface winds and lower its central pressure. Chantal had two weaker warm layers instead of a well-defined warm core. These layers have been related to the horizontal and vertical winds and precipitation structure and have helped us learn more about why this storm didn't develop. |
| File Size | 1817196 |
| Page Count | 41 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_20040082189 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t1zd2w88v |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 2004-01-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Meteorology And Climatology Tropical Storms Temperature Distribution Tropical Regions Thunderstorms Ground Wind Vertical Distribution Measuring Instruments Dc 8 Aircraft Hurricanes Altitude Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
