Typhoon

The tropical atmosphere is characterized by generation of typhoons. The typhoon is an atmospheric vortex with a large scale. The vertical structure is quite similar with that of the Hadley circulation, i.e., the upward motion is located near the center and the downward motion is located in the wide area surrounding the center. You can regard Fig.6 as the schematic picture of the vertical cross section of a typhoon except a typhoon eye which is located at the center of the vortex. Clouds are not generated inside the typhoon eye. They are generated in a ring surrounding the center of the vortex. You should regard the right side corner of Fig.6 as an eye wall of a typhoon.

Typhoons are accompanied by strong winds. What is an origin of the strong wind?

The strong wind stems from the rotation of the atmosphere with the solid Earth. If the atmosphere rotates with the exactly same speed with the solid Earth, we feel no winds, because we also rotate with the exactly same speed with the solid Earth. If you observe the tropical atmosphere of the real Earth from the space, you will find that the atmosphere rotates with the Earth.

In normal situation, we have no strong wind, even if the atmosphere rotates with the Earth. However, a strong wind is created by convergence of the atmosphere due to cumulonimbi.

The principle of the acceleration of the atmosphere by convergence is exactly same with a vortex generation on a drain of a bathtub, when water is drained from a hole at the bottom of the bathtub.

It is said that the kinetic energy of a typhoon is 1018 Joule, which corresponds to the energy of 18,000 atomic bombs of Hiroshima type. You will realize how the natural energy is great. The thermal energy released by latent heat is greater than the kinetic energy. According to an estimate, the thermal energy released by a single typhoon is equivalent to total energy consumed over Japan archipelago for 8 years.