SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF SMALL-SCALE ATMOSPHERE—OCEAN INTERACTION IN TROPICAL CYCLONES

T. I. Tarkhova, M. S. Permyakov, and A. S. Sergienko

Momentum, heat, moisture, and mechanical wind energy fluxes are estimated using before and after the passage of typhoon Norris ship hydrometeorological data and a wind model in a moving typhoon. The synoptic-scale contribution of tropical cyclones (TC) to averaged momentum, heat, and moisture fluxes is shown to be small and comparable to estimate errors. The influence of TC on the ocean is related first of all to a considerable contribution of TC to mechanical energy fluxes of surface wind. Estimates show that wind energy fluxes during typhoon passage can be more than six times as large as the background values estimated from ship data and almost ten times as large as monthly mean climatic values. In the presence of a thick upper-ocean mixed layer, the influence of vertical exchange on the change in heat content and potential energy of the upper ocean layer manifests itself only in regions of maximum wind speeds at maximum TC developments stages.