Although tropical cyclone intensification is driven by energy sources local to the storm, evidence is growing that external forcing, particularly at upper tropospheric levels, can trigger the internal intensification process. In previous work, the principal investigator developed hypotheses for how upper tropospheric forcing at outer radii vertically couples to produce lower tropospheric inner core intensification of hurricanes. The principal investigator plans to test his hypotheses with both diagnostic calculations with observational data and numerical modeling studies. He will then apply his concepts of storm formation and intensification to other atmospheric disturbances, namely, explosively growing oceanic cyclones in the middle latitudes and a long-lasting mesoscale vortex over land.
