Recent Research and Operational Tools for Improved Understanding and Diagnosis of Tropical Cyclone Inner Core Structure
The inner core of a tropical cyclone (TC) is vital for TC energetics and often undergoes dramatic changes. This article provides a review on the understanding and operational practices of the structural changes in the TC inner core, mainly focusing on recent literature and activities. The inner core structure of a TC is generally described as an axisymmetric vortex in the vicinity of a hydrostatic and gradient wind-balanced state. However, this schematic can sometimes be oversimplified. Recent studies have documented small-scale features of the inner core, structural changes in TC rapid intensification, secondary eyewall formation, and eyewall replacement cycles using observational data, and idealized and sophisticated models. In line with the progress in understanding the inner core structure, several operational agencies have recently analyzed TC structural changes using their subjective analyses or diagnostic tools, contributing to disaster prevention. We also discuss potential impacts of climate change on the inner core structure, for which further work is required to reach a solid conclusion.
Authors
- Udai Shimada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6971-2693)
- Dandan Tao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8300-3623)
- Anthony C. Didlake (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9168-381X)
- Chun‐Chieh Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3612-4537)
- James Hlywiak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8346-1002)
- Nannan Qin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7036-879X)
- Tsz‐Kin Lai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7309-4122)
- Jun A. Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3713-0223)
- Sachie Kanada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3413-2875)
- Derrick Herndon
- Kosuke Ito (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7017-3404)
- Yohei Yamada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6092-9944)
- Lauren Pattie
- Yi-Hsuan HUANG
- Yoshiaki Miyamoto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1972-8619)
Institutions
- Bureau of Meteorology (AU)
- United States Naval Research Laboratory (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JP)
- Environment and Climate Change Canada (CA)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- University of Miami (US)
- National Taiwan University (TW)
- Yokohama National University (JP)
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (US)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- Japan Meteorological Agency (JP)
- NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratories (US)
- RIKEN Center for Computational Science (JP)
- Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences (CN)
- Keio University Shonan Fujisawa (JP)
- Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (US)
- Meteorological Research Institute (JP)
- University of Bergen (NO)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Nagoya University (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan Ser II
- Published
- 2024-12-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.2025-008
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.13
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- National Science and Technology Council
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- Office of Naval Research
- Moonshot Research and Development Program