Analytical tropical cyclone asymmetric circulation for barotropic model initial conditions

Abstract

The flow field around a troical cyclone can be decomposed into the symmetric vortex, an environmental steering flow, and an asymmetric circulation that is the residual after the first two components are removed. In a barotropic model with a quiescent environment, the asymmetric circulation is associated with a propagation vector that is defined to be the difference between the storm-motion vector and the steering flow. An analytical specification derived by Carr for the asymmetric circulation and the corresponding propagation vector is proposed for use in the initial conditions of dynamical track-prediction models. -from Authors