VENTILATION FLOW IN A BAROCLINIC VORTEX RELATED TO TROPICAL CYCLONE MOTION^*

The tropical cyclone motion is numerically simulated with a quasi-geostrophic baroclinic model.The flow field of a tropical cyclone is decomposed into its axisymmetric and asymmetric components.The relation between the ventilation flow vector and the motion vector of the tropical cyclone is investigated.The results of numerical experiments indicate:(1) There are both large-scale beta gyres and small-scale gyres in the asyrnmetric flow field.(2) The interaction between small-scale gyres and large-scale beta gyres leads to the oscillation of translation speed and translation direction for the tropical cyclone.(3) There are the large deviations between the ventilation flow vector calculated by means of Fiorino and Elsberry's method and the motion vector of tropical cyclone.(4) The ventilation flow vector computed using the improved method closely correlates with the motion vector of the tropical cyclone.