Typhoon Track, Intensity, and Structure: From Theory to Prediction

To improve understanding of essential aspects that influence forecasting of tropical cyclones (TCs), the National Key Research and Development Program, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China conducted a five-year project titled “Key Dynamic and Thermodynamic Processes and Prediction for the Evolution of Typhoon Intensity and Structure” (KPPT). Through this project, new understandings of TC intensification, including outer rainband-driven secondary eyewall formation and the roles of boundary layer dynamics and vertical wind shear, and improvements to TC data assimilation with integrated algorithms and adaptive localizations are achieved. To promote a breakthrough in TC intensity and structure forecasting, a new paradigm for TC evolution dynamics (i.e., the correlations, interactions, and error propagation among the triangle of TC track, intensity, and structure) is proposed; and an era of dynamic-constrained, big-data driven, and strongly coupled data assimilation at the subkilometer scale and seamless prediction is expected.