A budget analysis of a long-lived tropical mesoscale vortex over Hainan in October 2010

The vorticity, eddy kinetic energy, and helicity budgets were calculated to study the variations of a long-lived tropical mesoscale vortex that occurred over Hainan during the period 05–09 October 2010. The main results are as follows: the vortex was mainly located at middle to lower levels of the troposphere, and among different levels, the dominant factors responsible for the variations of the vortex were different. Intense convergence at the lower troposphere dominated the formation and longevity of the vortex. The vertical transport of positive vorticity which was closely related to the convective activities was conducive to the formation and maintenance of the vortex. The barotropic energy conversion was favorable for the formation of the vortex, while the baroclinic energy conversion accelerated its attenuation. Background circulations were favorable for the longevity of the vortex, and interactions with other synoptic systems were important to its variations. The variation of helicity was closely related to the vortex, and the maintenance of positive helicity was another favorable factor for the longevity of the vortex.