Tropical Cyclone Integrated Kinetic Energy in an Ensemble of HighResMIP Simulations. Issue 5 (9th March 2021) - Kreussler, Philip
Abstract: This study investigates tropical cyclone integrated kinetic energy, a measure which takes into account the intensity and the size of the storms and which is closely associated with their damage potential, in three different global climate models integrated following the HighResMIP protocol. In particular, the impact of horizontal resolution and of the ocean coupling are assessed. We find that, while the increase in resolution results in smaller and more intense storms, the integrated kinetic energy of individual cyclones remains relatively similar between the two configurations. On the other hand, atmosphere‐ocean coupling tends to reduce the size and the intensity of the storms, resulting in lower integrated kinetic energy in that configuration. Comparing cyclone integrated kinetic energy between a present and a future scenario did not reveal significant differences between the two periods. Plain Language Summary: The damage potential of tropical cyclones is often described by their maximum wind speed. However, maximum wind speed is not particularly well correlated with tropical cyclone losses because intensity defined in such a way does not take into account the size of the storm, which is an important factor driving tropical cyclone related losses. Tropical cyclone integrated kinetic energy on the other hand is a measure which takes into account both the size and the intensity of the cyclones and is more representative of its destructiveness. Here, we investigate integrated kinetic energy in three different global climate models following a common protocol. We find that an increase in horizontal model resolution results in smaller and more intense storms, but that the range of integrated kinetic energy produced by the models remains similar in both configurations. On the other hand, allowing the atmosphere and ocean to interact with each other in the models tends to reduce the size and the intensity of the storms, resulting in lower integrated kinetic energy. Comparing cyclone integrated kinetic energy between present conditions and a projected future climate scenario did not suggest notable changes between the two periods. Key Points: Increasing horizontal resolution leads to smaller and more intense tropical cyclones but relatively similar integrated kinetic energy Coupling atmosphere and ocean tends to reduce the size and intensity of cyclones, generally resulting in lower integrated kinetic energy Comparing integrated kinetic energy between present and projected future conditions does not reveal significant differences between the two