Climatology of Cyclone Size Characteristics and Their Changes during the Cyclone Life Cycle

Abstract Climatology of the atmospheric cyclone sizes and their change over the cyclone life cycle is analyzed on the basis of tracking 57 yr of NCEP–NCAR reanalysis sea level pressure data over the Northern Hemisphere. To quantify the atmospheric cyclone sizes a coordinate transform was used, which allows for the collocation of the cyclone center with the virtual pole and for the establishment of a unique coordinate system for the further determination of cyclone geometry. This procedure was incorporated into a numerical cyclone tracking scheme and provided quantitative estimation of cyclone geometry at every stage of the cyclone development. Climatological features of the distribution of the cyclone size characteristics (effective radius, asymmetry) are considered for the cyclones with different central pressure, deepening rate, and lifetime. Mean effective cyclone radius may experience significant changes, ranging from 300–400 km over the continents to more than 900 km over the oceans. There is found to be a strong dependence of the cyclone effective radius on the cyclone lifetime and intensity, implying the largest cyclone sizes for the most intense and long-living transients. Analysis of size changes during the cyclone life cycle implies that the cyclone radius increases during the development stage from 50% to 150%. Size evolution during the cyclone life cycle implies a universal dependence of the normalized cyclone effective radius and the normalized cyclone age. The actual maximum cyclone radius can be determined from these two nondimensional parameters and cyclone central pressure. Further application of the analysis of cyclone size and shape are discussed.