Impact of Surface Exchange Coefficients and Sea Surface Cooling on Tropical Cyclone Simulation

The surface flux exchange associated with the exchange coefficients and upper ocean conditions is essential to the development of tropical cyclones (TCs). Using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, the present study has investigated the impact of exchange coefficients and ocean coupling during Super Typhoon Saomai (2006). Firstly, two experiments with different formula of roughness are conducted. The experiment with the Donelan formula for drag coefficient (Cd) and ramped formula for enthalpy coefficient (Ck) can simulate stronger intensity compared to other experiments due to the increased surface wind and enthalpy fluxes. That is because the new formulas allows for a smaller Cd and larger Ck in the high wind regime than the former formulas did. Moreover, two coupled simulations between WRF and a one-dimensional ocean model are conducted to examine the feedback of sea surface cooling to the TC. In the experiments with a horizontal uniform mixed layer depth of 70 m, the sea surface cooling is too weak to change the evolution of TC. While in the experiment with an input mixed layer calculated using the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) data, the significant sea surface cooling induces obvious impact on TC intensity and structure. Under the negative feedback of sea surface cooling, the sensible and latent heat fluxes decreases, especially in the right part of Saomai (2006). The negative feedback with coupled ocean model plays a vital role in simulating the intensity and structure of TC.