A Simulation Study of the Formation of Large-Scale Cyclonic and Anticyclonic Vortices in the Vicinity of the Intertropical Convergence Zone

Abstract

A regional nonhydrostatic mathematical model of the wind system of the lower atmosphere, developed recently in the Polar Geophysical Institute, is utilized to investigate the initial stage of the origin of large-scale vortices at tropical latitudes. The model produces three-dimensional distributions of the atmospheric parameters in the height range from 0 to 15 km over a limited region of the Earth’s surface. Time-dependent modeling is performed for the cases when, at the initial moment, the simulation domain is intersected by the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). Calculations are made for various cases in which the initial forms of the intertropical convergence zone are different and contained convexities with distinct shapes, which are consistent with the results of satellite microwave monitoring of the Earth’s atmosphere. The results of modeling indicate that the origin of convexities in the form of the intertropical convergence zone, having distinct configurations, can lead to the formation of different large-scale vortices, in particular, a cyclonic vortex, a pair of cyclonic-anticyclonic vortices, and a pair of cyclonic vortices, during a period not longer than three days. The radii of these large-scale vortices are about 400–600 km. The horizontal wind velocity in these vortices can achieve values of 15–20 m/s in the course of time.