Scientists have identified what happens in the ocean when two cyclones collide

Researchers from the University of Oldenburg (Germany) identified what happens in the ocean when two cyclones collide. The study was based on the collision of Seroja and Odette in 2021.

The encounter caused an unusual cooling of the water surface and a sharp change in the direction of the combined storm. Scientists concluded that as the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones increases as a result of global warming, it is possible that such encounters - and thus more extreme air-sea interactions - will become more frequent in the future, Phys Org writes.

According to Professors Dr. Oliver Wurl and Dr. Jens Meyerjürgens, tropical cyclones (TCs) not only whip up air masses in the atmosphere, they also churn up water masses in the areas of the ocean that are in their path. When two cyclones collide and merge, this interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere can be greatly intensified.

Researchers analyzed the collision of the two relatively weak tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean in 2021. To investigate the impact of this unusual rendezvous on the ocean, Wurl and Meyerjürgens combined satellite data and measurements from ARGO floats and autonomous drifting vehicles with numerical modeling.

These sources provided the researchers with information on factors such as salinity and water temperature from the sea surface to depths of up to 2,000 meters, as well as data on upward and downward (vertical) current velocity. In addition, they analyzed the upwelling and downwelling (vertical) current velocity using data from numerical models.

As a result, these effects turned out to be as profound as those seen only after much stronger cyclones. Thus, as said earlier, as the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones increases as a result of global warming, this type of convergence may become more frequent in the future.

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