Effect of tropical cyclone intensity and instability on the evolution of spiral bands

The evolution of spiral-band-like structures triggered by asymmetric heating in three tropical-cyclone-like vortices of different intensities is examined using the Three-Dimensional Vortex Perturbation Analyzer and Simulator (3DVPAS) model. To simulate the spiral bands, asymmetric thermal perturbations are imposed on the radius of maximum wind (RMW) of vortices, which can be considered as the location near the eyewall of real tropical cyclones (TCs). All the three vortices experience a hydrostatic adjustment after the introduction of thermal asymmetries. It takes more time for weaker and stable vortices to finish such a process. The spiral-band-like structures, especially those distant from the vortex centers, form and evolve accompanying this process. In the quasi-balance state, the spiral bands are gradually concentrated to the inner core, the wave behavior of which resembles the features of classic vortex Rossby (VR) waves. The unstable vortices regain nonhydrostatic features after the quasi-balance stage. The spiral bands further from the vortex center, similar to distant spiral bands in real TCs, form and maintain more easily in the moderate basic-state vortex, satisfying the conditions of barotropic instability. The widest radial extent and longest-lived distant bands always exist in weak and stable vortices. This study represents an attempt to determine the role of TC intensity and stability in the formation and evolution of spiral bands via hydrostatic balance adjustment, and provides some valuable insights into the formation of distant spiral rainbands.