Helicity evolution during the life cycle of tropical cyclones formed over the north Indian Ocean

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are violent multiscale convections occurring in the atmosphere. The destructive impact of the TCs is commensurate to the helicity associated with their evolution. The evolution of helicity of three TCs viz. Fani, Luban, and Ockhi formed over the north Indian ocean have been analyzed in this study. The analysis of kinetic energy density of primary (EP), secondary (ES) circulation and total helicity has shown that TCs showed helical features when the secondary overturning circulation knotted with primary tangential circulation in a moist convective situation. This condition can be considered a starting of the self-sustained helical feedback process. At this time, the core region became a rotation-dominated region that suppressed strain-dominated surroundings. The Okubo-Weiss parameter demonstrates the similar qualitative behavior of deep convection as total helicity. The local maximas in helicity time series are related with the changes in tropical cyclones' stages (intensification/dissipation). Therefore, consideration of helicity analysis is essential to analyze the TC intensification and dissipation.