CoAuthors

Bertrand Chapron (IFREMER, France); Yves Quilfen (IFREMER, France); Alexis Mouche (IFREMER, France)

Moving tropical cyclones (TCs) are extreme atmospheric phenomena that powerfully impact the ocean. Indeed, TCs are intense sources of surface stress and stress curl generating a variety of responses : surface waves, internal currents and turbulence in the upper layer that causes vertical mixing and enhances thermocline erosion often leading to large sea surface temperature (SST) changes. There is also a measurable barotropic response with an associated trough in sea surface height (SSH). Taking advantages of multi-sensor observations, this study aims to help infer the TC intensity and life-cycle evolution. The method is based on simplified analytical models describing asymmetrical sea states, SST and SSH anomalies. As suggested, a new parametric wind stress model can then be derived. In particular, our approach underlines the better capacity of an outer radius forced model to reproduce the global wind forcing profile, compared to previous Rmax-based parametric models.