Simulation of the turbulent transport associated with large eddy circulations in the hurricane boundary layer for Irene (2011)

Turbulent transport associated with large eddy circulations (LECs) in the hurricane boundary layer (HBL) are not well understood. With the rapid growth in computational capabilities, it is now possible to resolve these LECs and their associated turbulent fluxes in numerical modeling simulations. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, a large eddy simulation (LES) is used to examine the HBL for Irene (2011). WRF-LES permits resolving the hurricane vortex within the synoptic and mesoscale environment, while also resolving the coherent LECs within the HBL. A budget of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) is examined and the significance of the turbulent fluxes within the HBL are examined. Furthermore, the turbulent fluxes over land are compared with those prior to landfall. Within the high resolution LES nest, wind gust factors are also examined and are compared to prior observational and numerical studies of gust factors in the TC environment.