Role of Radiative-Convective Feedbacks in Spontaneous Tropical Cyclogenesis in Idealized Numerical Simulations

The authors perform 3D cloud-resolving simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium (RCE) in a rotating framework, with interactive radiation and surface fluxes and fixed sea surface temperature. A tropical cyclone is allowed to develop spontaneously from a homogeneous environment, rather than initializing the circulation with a weak vortex or moist bubble (as is often done in numerical simulations of tropical cyclones). The resulting tropical cyclogenesis is compared to the self-aggregation of convection that occurs in nonrotating RCE simulations. The feedbacks leading to cyclogenesis are quantified using a variance budget equation for the column-integrated frozen moist static energy. In the initial development of a broad circulation, feedbacks involving longwave radiation and surface enthalpy fluxes dominate, which is similar to the initial phase of nonrotating self-aggregation. Mechanism denial experiments are also performed to determine the extent to which the radiative feedbacks that are essential to nonrotating self-aggregation are important for tropical cyclogenesis. Results show that radiative feedbacks aid cyclogenesis but are not strictly necessary.