edu.ucar.opensky::articles:27050 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-24T18:55:00.875172 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d77948jd Anomalously large latent heat fluxes in low to moderate wind conditions within the eddy-rich zone of the Northwestern Pacific 2024-02-06T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d77948jd https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1298641 Kang, S. K. author Kim, E. J. author Kim, S. author Cione, Joseph author Lee, D. author Landwehr, S. author Kang, H. author Kim, K. author Hong, C. S. author Kwon, M. H. author Oh, K. author Lee, J. H. author Noh, S. author So, J. K. author Kang, D. author Kim, D. author Park, J. author Nam, S. author Cho, Y. K. author Ward, B. author Ginis, I. author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher An air-sea interaction field campaign was conducted in September of 2017 within the warm and cold eddy region of the western Northwest Pacific (WNP) (17.5 ring;-20.5 ring;N, 127.5 ring;E-133.5 ring;E). Both near-surface oceanic and atmospheric conditions in addition to ocean heat content (OHC) were examined to better understand the mechanisms governing high heat flux magnitudes responsible for rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones. Observations from this experiment indicate that the latent heat flux (LHF) under modest wind conditions reached 400 W m(-2) within the vicinity of a warm eddy, with OHC higher than 100 kJ cm(-2) of warm eddy region being 2 similar to 3 times as large as that of cold eddy region. These high OHC and a resultant high LHF in the warm eddy, comparable to the magnitude of LHF in the North Equatorial Current, may explain the mechanism of why tropical cyclones over a warm eddy in eddy-rich zones often rapidly intensify in the WNP. A month later typhoon Lan rapidly intensified into a super typhoon, while passing over the boundary region of warm and cold eddies during the observation period. Results from this study illustrate that both the wind-normalized LHF and the difference (Q(s)-Q(a)) between the specific humidity at air (Q(a)) and at the sea surface (Q(s)), closely correlate with OHC patterns, which suggests that the ocean looks likely to control the spatial pattern of LHF. Overall, both the ocean and weather conditions govern the pattern of specific humidity difference between the air-sea interface, with large OHC over the warm eddy controlling higher Q(s) and the pattern of Q(a) depending on the pattern of wind direction. Q(a) as a factor impacting LHF magnitude is strongly linked to wind direction in the experimental area, that is, the drier northwesterly flow and southeasterly moist wind, resulting in the enhanced contrast of specific humidity at cold eddy region. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. None eng geoscientificInformation