Monthly variation and spatial distribution of quadrant tropical cyclone size in the Western North Pacific

Abstract

Abstract With the tropical cyclone (TC) size parameter defined as the radius of 17‐m·s−1 oceanic surface wind, 225 TC cases were recorded in the western North Pacific during 2000–2009 based on the QuikSCAT near‐surface wind vector database and the best‐track dataset. In accordance with the symmetry index (the ratio of minimum and maximum quadrant sizes), the TCs were classified into symmetric and asymmetric structures. The asymmetric TCs were divided into four types: the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest. The spatio‐temporal characteristics of these TC types were further investigated. The monthly variation and the spatial distribution of maximum quadrant TC size exhibited significant differences among the four types. By contrast, the quadrant size of the symmetric TCs from June to November showed few changes (2.6°–2.7° latitude). It was found that the TC lifetime is an important factor affecting the quadrant TC size because of its close relationship with the activities of the western Pacific subtropical high. In addition, the climatological mean circulation also has a notable influence on the quadrant TC size through superposition of prominent background wind. Symmetric TCs are more likely to occur in the oceanic region where the background low‐level wind is the weakest.

Keywords

• circulation
• lifetime
• quadrant
• size
• symmetry
• tropical cyclone