Effects of surface exchange coefficients and turbulence length scales on the intensity and structure of numerically simulated hurricanes

Compared to other recent articles on the topic, this study uses higher vertical resolution, more values for the turbulence length scales, a different initial environment (including higher sea surface temperature), a broader specification of surface exchange coefficients, a more realistic microphysics scheme, and a set of three-dimensional simulations.

The primary conclusions from a recent study by Bryan and Rotunno are all upheld: maximum intensity is strongly affected by the horizontal turbulence length scale lh but not by the vertical turbulence length scale lh, and the ratio of surface exchange coefficients for enthalpy and momentum, Ck/Cd, has less effect on maximum wind speed than suggested by an often-cited theoretical model. The model output is further evaluated against various metrics of hurricane intensity and structure from recent observational studies, including maximum wind speed, minimum pressure, surface wind-pressure relationships, height of maximum wind, and surface inflow angle.