Introduction to the Lecture

In recent decades, the forecast accuracy of tropical cyclone (TC) track has been significantly improved, but the ability to forecast TC intensity has been relatively limited, making it still very challenging to accurately predict the rapid variation of TC intensity. The variation of TC intensity is not only affected by the external environment, but also by the internal process of TCs, which is the result of multi-scale interaction. The diurnal variation process, which can change the thermodynamic environment and internal convection activities of TCs, may have an important impact on the occurrence and development of TCs. This study takes the diurnal variation as a new perspective to study the internal structure change of TCs and its relationship with the cyclone intensity change. The diurnal variation law of cloud, precipitation and convection activities in TCs on the global ocean surface in recent 20 years is studied by using multi-source satellite data system, and the fine structure of convection in the propagation events with significant diurnal variation is deeply analyzed. The study further examines the impact of the diurnal variation of convection on the internal structure of TCs, and offers an in-depth discussion on the relationship and mechanism between the diurnal variation of convection and the variation of TC intensity.

Profile of the Speaker

Xu Weixin is Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at Sun Yat-Sen University, mainly engaged in research on small and medium-scale meteorology, tropical meteorology, satellite radar meteorology, etc. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 2011, and worked with NASA- University of Maryland Joint Center for Earth Sciences and Colorado State University. He has presided over nearly 10 research projects, including projects funded by the China Natural Science Foundation, the Guangdong Science and Technology Department, NASA and NSF of the United States, and has been selected into the national Recruitment Program of Global Experts (Youth Program) and the Pearl River Talents Program of Guangdong Province. Prof. Xu has published over 40 high-level SCI academic papers, which have been cited by others for more than 1000 times. Some related achievements have been rated as research highlights by Science and AGU journals. Prof. Xu is an editorial board member of Meteorological Science and Journal of Tropical Meteorology, an academic member of the Key Open Laboratory of Radar Meteorology of China Meteorological Administration, and a technical member of radar meteorology and hydrology of the Chinese Meteorological Association.