Air-Sea Interaction Processes Influencing the Development of A Shapiro-Keyser Type Cyclone over the Subtropical South Atlantic Ocean

This study analyzes the impacts of latent and sensible heat exchanges between the atmosphere and the ocean in a non-explosive Shapiro-Keyser type cyclogenesis event that occurred over the southwestern South Atlantic Ocean. The synoptic evolution shows a relatively strong warm front and a cold frontal fracture during the system's development and a warm seclusion in its mature stage, characterizing a Shapiro-Keyser type cyclone. Numerical experiments with the ARW-WRF Model version 3.3 were used to investigate the influences of sensible and latent fluxes on the track of the surface low, intensity of the fronts and coupling of the lower and upper troposphere. The simulations indicate that in the presence of these fluxes the cyclone underwent greater intensification, had a longer life time and longer trajectory, and presented a typical southeastward movement. In the absence of these fluxes, the cyclone developed a weaker warm front with consequent reduction of diabatic heating due to grid scale precipitation along it. This reduced the negative pressure tendency southeast of the cyclone center and the surface cyclone moved northeastward, showing a decoupling of the lower- and upper-level waves. A consequence of this anomalous tracking is the location of the surface cyclone beneath the upper-level trough axis, where there is no upper-level divergence associated with cyclonic vorticity advection contributing to the further system intensification. Numerical experiments suggest that for this Shapiro-Keyser type cyclone the air-sea interaction processes are crucial to obtain a cyclone with features similar to the observations.