Analysis of Vorticity Budget for a Developing Extraordinary Arctic Cyclone in August 2016

抄録

In this study, we conducted a domain-integrated vorticity budget analysis to quantitatively understand the developing mechanism of the Arctic Cyclone (AC) in August 2016 (AC16). The results showed that the vorticity enhancement of the AC16 was dominated by the horizontal flux convergence of vorticity at all layers with a maximum near the tropopause. The enhancement near the tropopause was characterized not only by the horizontal supply but also by the vertical transport of vorticity. In the boundary layer within the AC16, the convergence of horizontal winds and the corresponding divergence of vertical winds occurred. In addition, during the merging process, updrafts were dominant in the troposphere due to the structure of the mid-latitude cyclone. These structures caused the upward transport of vorticity to the tropopause, which is considered as an important internal process of the AC16. However, time-averaged vorticity budget during the developing stage indicated that the vertical flux term and the divergence term compensate with each other. As a result, it was concluded that the AC is excited and maintained by the merging of the vortices associated with the migrating mid-latitude cyclone and polar vortex.