Exploring the Key Features of Tropical Cyclogenesis Using Satellite Data

Different satellite datasets were used along with the ERA-Interim reanalysis to investigate the key convective and thermodynamic features of tropical cyclogenesis. More than 150 named tropical cyclones over the Atlantic were examined in a quasi-Lagrangian framework, and the analysis yields the following findings.

• The key feature of convection for TC genesis is not the intensity or extent of deep convection, but the convective organization near the pouch center.
• Column moistening near the pouch center precedes the transition to sustained deep convection and tropical cyclogenesis.
• Tropical cyclogenesis may be an outcome of the collective contribution by different precipitation types.