Eye Formation and energetics in a dry model of hurricane-like vortices
Résumé
We investigate the mechanism for eye formation in hurricane-like vortices, using a formulation adapted from Oruba et al. (2017). Numerical simulations are performed using an axisymmetric model of dry rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection under the Boussinesq approximation. The fluxes of heat and momentum at the sea surface are described using the bulk aerodynamic formula. A simplified model for radiative cooling is also implemented. We find that the mechanism for eye formation introduced in Oruba et al. (2017), relying on vorticity stripping from the boundary layer, is robust in dry hurricane-like vortices. Furthermore, with these boundary conditions the structure of the flow is closer to the flow of actual tropical cyclones. The applicability of this mechanism to the moist case however remains uncertain and deserves further study. Finally, energy budgets, obtained either by a heat engine approach, or by a direct estimation of the work of buoyancy forces, are investigated. They provide estimations of the surface wind speed as a function of the controlling parameters.