Electromagnetohydrodynamic nature of tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and tornadoes
Source: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/97JD00146
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Electromagnetohydrodynamic nature of tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and tornadoes
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The problem of genesis and intensification of tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and tornadoes is highly important in meteorology and to date has not been solved. At the same time, practically all researches made concerning these phenomena fail to take into account that the origin and intensification of tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and tornadoes take place under conditions of an abnormally strong electric field which together with electromagnetohydrodynamic interaction occupies a key position in the intensification process. The detailed description of the electromagnetohydrodynamic model explaining the processes of energy conversion in tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and tornadoes is presented.
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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 102, NO. D12, PAGES 13,571-13,580,JUNE 27, 1997Electromagnetohydrodynamic nature of tropicalcyclones, hurricanes, and tornadoesEvgenyY. KrasilnikovMoscowStateAviation Institute,TechnologicalUniversity, Moscow, RussiaAbstract. The problemof genesisand imensificationof tropicalcyclones,hurricanes,andtornadoesis highly importantin meteorologyandto date hasnot been solved.Atthe sametime, practicallyall researchesmadeconcerningthesephenomenafail to takeinto accountthat the origin and intensificationof tropicalcyclones,hurricanes,andtornadoestake placeunderconditionsof an abnormallystrongelectricfield whichtogetherwith electromagnetohydrodynamicinteractionoccupiesa key positionin theintensificationprocess.The detaileddescriptionof the electromagnetohydrodynamicmodelexplainingthe processesof energyconversionin tropicalcyclones,hurricanes,andtornadoesis presented.1.IntroductionIt hasbeenover 150 years, starting,perhaps,from theresearchperformedby Hare [1837], since the problemsrelatedwith ascertainingthe natureof tropicalcyclones,destructivehurricanes,and tornadoeswere first discussed,andthey still remaina subject of intense attention formany specialistsengagedin studiesof theserathercomp-lex phenomenaof nature.By carrying out multiple and systematicstudiesofthese phenomenain recemdecades(for obviousreasonsonlya minorpan of thesestudiesare citedin thisarticle)and using satellite,aircraft, sound, and ground-basedobservation facilities extensive statistical data have beenaccumulatedand considerableprogresshasbeenachievedin revealingfactorswhich determinethe genesisof theseformidablenaturalphenomena.Considerableresearchef-fort has been directedto finding out the causeswhichresult in intensificationof thesevorticesand buildingmathematicalmodelsof them as well as to simulatingthem in laboratories.As for tropical cyclonesand hurricanes,the abovegivenanalysisof their origin and developmenthas notyet given an exhaustiveanswer in terms of nature but,nevertheless,it hashelpedto disclosesomefactorswhichare of primary significancefor the processof intensifi-cationand they are as follows' power supplyto tropicalcyclonesand hurricanesat the expenseof sensibleandlatent heat of moist air lifted upward from the oceansurface,the secondarycirculationin the vertical plane,the lowering of cooled air in rainbandcloud-linesat thetropicalcycloneperipheryand coolingof incomingair.At the sametime there has been, to date, no compre-hensiveunderstandingof the mechanismwhich trans-Copyright 1997 by the American GeophysicalUnion.Paper number 97JD00146.0148-0227/97/97JD-00146509.00formsthe heat energyof moist air lifted upward fromthe oceansurfaceto an imensivekineticenergyof vortexmotion(the primary circulation)of a developingtropicalcyclone.The results of tornado research leave still fewergroundsfor optimism. Till recemly there has been noclear idea about the origin and rapid imensificationoftornadoesfrom the primary vertical and especiallyhorizontalvorticity. Anotherphenomenonwhich remainsunexplainedis the mechanismthat providestransmissionandenergyconversionof a strongthunderstorm,at times,to the abnormallyintensivekineticenergyof the air rota-ry motionin a tornado.It mightbe a paradox,but an overwhelmingmajorityof researchesmadelately in analyzingthe intensificationprocessesof tropicalcyclones,hurricanes,and tornadoeshave consideredthermodynamic,hydrodynamic, heattransferprocesses,and aqueousphasechangeonly, takingno accountof processesoccasionedby the action of anabnormallystrong electric field. Meanwhile, the cloudstructuresof tropical cyclones,hurricanes,and thunder-storms forming a tornado display abnormal electricalpropertiesobviouslyobservednowhereelsein nature.So,for ex_ample,the maximumpotemialgradientvaluesreach105-106V m4, whilethetotalelectricchargeof a hur-ricane is many times as large as Eaxth's total electriccharge.For all that, the values of electric and electro-magneticforcescould happento be greaterthan all otheracting forces, which explains their decisiverole in theintensification of these vortices. It is evident that a one-sidedapproachto the analysisof physicalphenomenaintropicalcyclones,hurricanes,and tornadoes,taking noaccountof electromagnetohydrodynamiceffects, can notprovidea correct and comprehensiveunderstandingoftheseprocesseswhich accountfor their intensificationand withoutwhich, in turn, it would be impossibletoconstructapplicablemathematicalmodels.Meanwhile, we can refer to Hare [1837], who 160years ago poimed out the possiblerole of effects con-nectedwith a strongelectricfield in the formationof a13,57113,572 KRASILNIKOV:ELECTROMAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICNATUREOFPOWERFULSTORMStornado.Similarassumptionshavenot oncebeenmadeinrecem decades.Let us, for example, refer to the as-sumptionsmadeby Riehl [ 1979, p.549], "...someform ofrotationalmechanismappearsto offer a viable solutiononthe large scaleof the atmosphere;magneticfields, forinstance,do not enterin troposphericbalancesof for-ces" , and by Vonnegut[1960, p.203], "It is suggestedthat there is sufficiem electrical energy in an intensethunderstormto power a tornadoand that the electri-ficationcouldcauseextraordinarilyintensewinds...".Basedon the _analysisof multiple studieson electro-physicalpropertiesof cloud structuresin the troposphereand numerousobservationaldata on the genesis andintensificationof tropical cyclones,hurricanes,and tor-nadoes,this papergives a descriptionof an electromag-netohydrodynamic(EMHD) mechanismwhich does ac-countfor the formationand intensificationof the primarycirculationin thesevortices.Accordingto this model theheat energy of moist air lifted upward from the oceansurfaceis convertedto the electric field energy whichthroughthe EMHD mechanismis convertedto the kineticenergyof intensivevortex motion of a tropicalcycloneand a hurricane,while the electricenergyof a powerfulthunderstorm as a restfit of EMHD mechanism action isconvertedto the kinetic energy of the intensiverotarymotionof a tornado.In view of the principaldifferencesbetweentropical cyclonesand tornadoesunder the con-difions of genesisand development,this paper givesseparateanalysesof the EMHD mechanismactionin theprocessesof their imensification.2. Electromagnetohydrodynamic(EMHD)ModelThe developedtropical cycloneand hurricanemovingover the oceansurfacerepresema powerfulcloudsystem,the radius of which can exceed 500 km or more. Thealtitudeof this cloudaccumulationextendedupwardfightup to the tropopausecan reach 17 kin. Tornadoesaregeneratedonly by very powerfid thunderstorms.Thedimensions of a thunderstorm often exceed 10-20 km inthe horizontal direction and 15-17 km in the verticaldirectionfight up to the tropopause.So, tropicalcyclonesand hurricanesrepresentunique meteorologicalform-ations. Tornadoes,as well, are connectedwith uniquethunderstorms.The uniquenessof thesecloudsystems(asdistinguishedfrom other types observedin nature) isdeterminedby the highestaltitudeand by the hugemassof water accumulatedin them, and what is more im-portant,by the maximumpossiblewaterconcernrationinthemper unit of volume in the form of vapor, dropsandice crystals.The estimatesshow that in a hurricaneofaverageintensitythe energy of latent heat releasedperdayis of the orderof 4x10•9J, andthewatercomentneededfor that is 16km3, whichisequivalentto theColorado River annual runoff [Riehl, 1979]. Thiscircumstanceis very important, since it is exactly suchconcentrated cloud accumulations with which the abnor-mal strongelectricfieldsare related.The electric field in Earth's atmosphereis known toexist in the absenceof clouds. So, the measurementdataat an altitude of 6 km [Clark, 1957] show that thepotentialmakesupa valueof theorderof 2.2xl0sV. Butduring emergenceand developmentof any clouda localelectric field related with it is being formed andincreased.Quite a great numberof investigationshavebeen made on the nature of this electric field. Thisproblem includesthree main aspects.The first one isconnectedwith the process of formation of electricchargesin a cloud.The secondone concernsthe processof charge separation,and the third one concernstheelectricstructureof clouds.As for the first two aspects,in spite of extensiveand prolongedstudies [e.g.,Workman and ReynoMs, 1950; Vonnegut, 1953;Chalmers,1967]thereis till now no commonviewpointboth with respectto the mechanismof electricchargeformationduringcloudformingand with respectto theprocessof their separation.However, numerousstudiesofthe third aspect showed that the electric structureofmature powerful thunderstormsis the tripole one[Chalmers,1967; Williams, 1989; Byrne et al., 1989].The electric structure scheme of the mature thunderstormis givenin Figure 1. In the centralpart of the cloudat analtitudeof about6 km abovethe Earth's surface(by dataof different authorsfrom 3 to 8 km [Chalmers, 1967])whereairtemperatureis about-15øCis thecenterof thenegativechargelayer. The height of this layer, as a role,does not exceed 1 km, and in the horizontal direction itssize could coincide with the size of the thunderstorm. Themaximumvaluesof the electric field potentialgradientcorrespondto the upper and lower boundariesof thislayer. It is in this layer that a maximumvalue of thevolumechargedensityis observed.A positivelychargedarea occupiespractically the whole upper part of athunderstorm,sometimesextendingup to the tropopause.The electricvolumechargeconcentrationis lesshere thanin the negativechargelayer. Another area of a positivechargeis in the very lower part of a thunderstorm,just atits basis.This area(the reasonfor its formationis not yetestablished)is not very large and, as assumed,does notplay any essentialrole in the formation of an electricfield. Besides,in the very upperpart of a thunderstormthere is a rather thin layer which containsnegativecharges.The Earth's surfaceunder a thunderstormhas aninducedpositivecharge,the intensivecoronadischargebeingformeddirectlyover the surface(over the objectsinthe form of a cusp).There are virtually no measurementdata of electricparametersin hurricanesand tornadoes.Hence, we referto the data of numerousmeasurementsof the most sig-nificant electricparametersof maturepowerful thunder-storms.The potential difference between the negativelychargedlayerandthegroundsurfaceis 109V [Schon-land, 1964], and betweenthe negativelychargedlayerandtheupperpartof a thunderstormis 108V. Insideof athunderstormthe largestmeasuredvaluesof the potentialgradientchangefrom1.5xl0s to2x106V m4 [Marshalland Rust, 1995; Ziegler and MacGorman, 1994;Norinder and Salka, 1951; Imianitov et al. , 1971].Thesevaluescorrespondto the conditionsat whichlight-ning takesplace, but as observationsshow, both hurri-canesand tornadoesare accompaniedby frequentandstrong lightning [Chalmers, 1967; Ziegler and Mac
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Archived URL: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/97JD00146
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