1
Guide o So wa e o
Physics o he T opical A mosphe e and T opical Cyclones
K. Emanuel, Janua y 2025
He e is a guide o he sc ip s and p og ams ha suppo he ex book Physics o he T opical
A mosphe e and T opical Cyclones. All o he sc ip s we e w i en o MATLAB bu all a e
compa ible wi h ecen eleases o GNU Oc a e, eely a ailable so wa e ha is qui e simila
(bu no iden ical) o MATLAB. A passing amilia i y wi h MATLAB/Oc a e will be help ul, bu you
should no need a ho ough g ounding. (Some sc ip s, such as ime_dependen _model, a e
conside ably slowe in Oc a e han in MATLAB.) Th ee packages: he single-column model, he
Hadley model, and he hu icane model equi e one- ime compiles o FORTRAN code, bu you
do no need o know FORTRAN o use any o hese models.
Unzip his package o so wa e in o a clean di ec o y on you machine. You should see a
collec ion o .m iles: hese a e sc ip s ha can be un in MATLAB o Oc a e, and se e al
olde s. In mos cases, you can jus un hese sc ip s in MATLAB o Oc a e. I you do no ha e
MATLAB and canno ge access o i , you should ins all he GNU Oc a e package, eely
a ailable online, on you machine. (Many Linux ins alla ions a uni e si ies ou inely ha e
Oc a e ins alled.) Bo h MATLAB and Oc a e ha e e sions ha un on PCs, MACs, and Linux
machines.
The e a e h ee asks you need o do, once and o all, on each machine you plan o un hese
sc ip s on. All o hese equi e ha you ha e a FORTRAN compile ins alled. (Mos uni e si y-
based ins alla ions al eady ha e one o mo e FORTRAN compile s ins alled.) I you do no ha e
one al eady, he e a e se e al eely a ailable compile s ha you can ins all on you machine;
o example, GNU FORTRAN. Follow he compile ins uc ions o ins all he compile
app op ia e o you machine.
Now na iga e o he SCM olde , which con ains a FORTRAN code named scm. . Compile ha
p og am in o an execu able called scm.exe. Fo example, wi h GNU FORTRAN, you would
execu e a sys em command
g o an -o scm.exe scm.
Check ha he ile scm.exe is now in he di ec o y. You can also issue his command om wi hin
MATLAB o Oc a e, e.g. s a us=sys em('g o an -o scm.exe scm. '); .
Nex , na iga e o he Hadley olde and do he same o he FORTRAN p og am Hadley. :
g o an -o Hadley.exe Hadley.
Finally, na iga e o he Hu icane olde and issue a command like
g o an -o hu icane.exe hu icane.
P epa a ion
2
No e ha he hu icane p og am may ake ens o minu es o hou s o un. In his case, i can be
qui e help ul o use an ad anced FORTRAN compile , like NVIDIA FORTRAN, wi h
op imiza ions. Fo example,
pg 95 - as -o hu icane.exe hu icane.
In each case, i is impo an ha he execu able iles be named scm.exe, Hadley.exe, and
hu icane.exe, espec i ely. (The case o he le e s is impo an he e.)
Tha ’s i ! You should now be all se o un all o he p og ams in his package. The Hadley,
single-column model (SCM), and hu icane p og ams need o be un om wi hin hei espec i e
olde s; all he o he s can be un om wi hin he main di ec o y.
The ollowing desc ibes he a ious sc ip s in he o de in which hey a e ound in he ex book.
1. Single-column model: This model and how o use i a e desc ibed in some de ail in he
documen Single_Column_Model_Guide.pd in he SCM olde . To use his model, you
mus ha e compiled he FORTRAN p og am scm. ollowing he ins uc ions s a ed in
he p e ious sec ion P epa a ion. Ve y b ie ly: Fi s na iga e o he SCM olde . Use any
edi o o open he ascii ile scm.in. Edi he i s column o he ile as you see i , bu
p ese e he o ma ing o he ile (e.g. do no dele e blank lines, e c.) Then, inside
MATLAB o Oc a e, ype un_scm. You will be asked o gi e a name o he ou pu ile. I
you speci ied he simula ions o begin wi h ields om a p e ious in eg a ion, you will be
asked o p o ide he name o ha olde . Then you should see in he command window
a coun o he numbe o days comple ed. A he end o he simula ions, a menu will
appea wi h choices o g aphs o he ou pu . You may use he sc ip scm_plo .m o plo
any p e ious ou pu you ha e sa ed.
2. soundplo .m: This sc ip e ches a use - eques ed adiosonde sounding om a
Uni e si y o Wyoming websi e, plo s i on a skew T-log p cha , and allows he use o
li pa cels om a ious le els by a ious p ocesses, which will also be plo ed on he
cha . Figu e 3.10 in he ex book is an example o he g aphical ou pu . The sc ip and
i s use a e desc ibed ex ensi ely in i s heade ; open i in he MATLAB o Oc a e edi o .
3. buoycon.m: Like soundplo .m, his e ie es a use - eques ed sounding om a
Uni e si y o Wyoming websi e, bu he e plo s he di e ence be ween he densi y
empe a u e o a li ed pa cel and ha o i s en i onmen , as a unc ion o he le el om
which he pa cel is li ed and he le el o which i is li ed. I also plo s he in eg a ed
posi i e buoyancy (CAPE) and he con ec i e inhibi ion (CIN) as a unc ion o he le el
om which he pa cel is li ed. An example o his ou pu is shown in Figu e 3.11 in he
ex book. The sc ip and i s use a e desc ibed ex ensi ely in i s heade ; open i in he
MATLAB o Oc a e edi o .
Sc ip s
3
4. he abplo .m: Like soundplo .m and buoycon.m, bu plo s he buoyancy po en ial
empe a u e as a unc ion o al i ude and use -chosen pa cel o igin le els. This was used
o p oduce Figu e 3.12 in he ex book. The sc ip and i s use a e desc ibed ex ensi ely
in i s heade ; open i in he MATLAB o Oc a e edi o .
5. aggplo .m. This sc ip calcula es and plo s solu ions o he sel -agg ega ion equa ions
exp essed by equa ions (3.94) and (3.95) in he ex . An example is shown in Figu e
3.40 in he ex . Pa ame e alues a e speci ied nea he op o he sc ip and can be
changed using he MATLAB o Oc a e edi o .
6. Hadley: This FORTRAN p og am uns a wo-dimensional (la i ude-al i ude) model wi h
he same con ec i e and adia i e physics as used in he single-column model. I is
desc ibed ex ensi ely in he documen s Hadley_Model_Guide.pd in he Hadley olde .
To use his model, you mus ha e compiled he FORTRAN p og am Hadley. ollowing
he ins uc ions s a ed in he p e ious sec ion P epa a ion. Ve y b ie ly: Fi s na iga e o
he Hadley olde . Use any edi o o open he ascii ile scm.in. Edi he i s column o he
ile as you see i , bu p ese e he o ma ing o he ile (e.g. do no dele e blank lines,
e c.) Then, inside MATLAB o Oc a e, ype un_Hadley. You will be asked o gi e a
name o he ou pu ile. I you speci ied he simula ions o begin wi h ields om a
p e ious in eg a ion, you will be asked o p o ide he name o ha olde . Then you
should see in he command window a coun o he numbe o days comple ed. A he
end o he simula ions, a menu will appea wi h choices o g aphs o he ou pu . You
may use he sc ip Hadley_plo .m o plo any p e ious ou pu you ha e sa ed.
7. Walke .m: This sc ip sol es he simple model o he Walke ci cula ion p esen ed in
Chap e 5. Examples o he solu ions a e shown in Figu es 5.54 and 5.55 in he
ex book. Pa ame e s may be se nea he op o he sc ip ; open in MATLAB o Oc a e
edi o .
8. Ma suno.m: This sc ip plo s he nondimensional dispe sion cu es o Ma suno wa es
as well as he eigen unc ions o modes as desc ibed in Chap e 6 o he ex book. This
sc ip was used o c ea e Figu es 6.8 and 6.9 in he ex book. Pa ame e alues may be
se nea he beginning o he sc ip ; open in MATLAB o Oc a e edi o .
9. Gill.m: This sc ip sol es he s eady s a e equa ions o he equa o ial a mosphe ic
esponse o p esc ibed sea su ace sa u a ion en opy anomalies, in he case o
anishing momen um d ag, as desc ibed in Chap e 6 o he ex book. Th ee maps a e
p oduced. This was used o gene a ed Figu e 6.10 in he ex book. Pa ame e alues
may be se nea he beginning o he sc ip ; open in MATLAB o Oc a e edi o .
10. GillD.m: This sc ip sol es ime-dependen equa ions o he equa o ial a mosphe ic
esponse o p esc ibed sea su ace sa u a ion en opy anomalies, as a way o es ima ing
he s eady s a e esponse wi h su ace d ag, as desc ibed in Chap e 6 o he ex book. I
he combina ions o pa ame e s is linea ly uns able, he p og am s a es his and s ops.
This was used o gene a ed Figu e 6.11 in he ex book. Pa ame e alues may be se
nea he beginning o he sc ip ; open in MATLAB o Oc a e edi o . No e ha his sc ip
can be qui e slow in Oc a e.
4
11. equamodes.m: P og am o inding g ow h a es and equencies o equa o ial modes
d i en by cloud- adia ion and WISHE, as solu ions o (7.16) in Chap e 7 o he ex book.
Also inds modes wi h geos ophic and WTG app oxima ions. This sc ip calcula es
modes bu only plo s eigen alues, no eigen unc ions. Use equaplo .m o plo bo h.
These sc ip s we e used o gene a e Figu es 7.26 – 7.30 in he ex book. Pa ame e
alues may be se nea he beginning o he sc ip ; open in MATLAB o Oc a e edi o .
12. equaplo .m: This sc ip plo s eigen alues and eigen unc ions om he mos ecen un
o he sc ip equamodes.m. No e ha his sc ip only plo s eigen unc ions o he comple e
equa ion se o he geos ophic modes, no modes unde he WTG app oxima ion. Only
he la ges g ow h a es o each mode numbe and zonal wa enumbe a e plo ed.
13. s eady_s a e_model.m: Nume ically sol es he se o equa ions de eloped by Emanuel
and Ro unno (2011) o he s eady-s a e s uc u e and ampli ude o opical cyclones
whose ou low is sel -s a i ying, as discussed in Chap e 9 o he ex book. I uses a
mindless i e a ion o ind ha alue o he adius o he ou low poin , , ha causes he
ou low empe a u e o a ain i s ambien opopause alue a he adius o maximum
winds. This sc ip was used o c ea e Figu es 9.9 and 9.10 in he ex book. Pa ame e
alues may be se nea he beginning o he sc ip ; open in MATLAB o Oc a e edi o .
14. PBLSlabModel.m: In eg a es he nondimensional PBL equa ions in ime un il a s eady
s a e is achie ed, gi en a g adien wind p o ile, as desc ibed in Chap e 9 o he
ex book. Plo s all h ee eloci y componen s a disc e e in e als in ime. Please see he
documen Axisymme ic Slab Bounda y laye Model.pd o a comple e desc ip ion, and
no e ha he sc ip includes ho izon al mixing which is absen om he model desc ibed
in he ex book. Pa ame e alues may be se nea he beginning o he sc ip ; open in
MATLAB o Oc a e edi o . No e ha his sc ip akes conside ably longe o un in
Oc a e han in MATLAB.
15. ime-dependen -model.m: In eg a es he simple ime-dependen TC model desc ibed in
Chap e 10 o he ex book. Menus p esen ing plo choices appea a e he sc ip uns.
Used o c ea e Figu es 10.2-10.6 in he ex book. Pa ame e alues may be se nea he
beginning o he sc ip ; open in MATLAB o Oc a e edi o . No e ha his sc ip akes
much longe o un in Oc a e han in MATLAB.
16. Hu icane: This se o sc ip s uns and displays he ou pu o he axisymme ic, non-
hyd os a ic hu icane model o Ro unno and Emanuel (1987). Na iga e o he Hu icane
olde and ead he documen Hu icane_Model_Guide.pd o de ailed ins uc ions on
how o use his model. No e ha his is he mos complex and sophis ica ed code in his
package, and p o i s om being compiled using an ad anced FORTAN compile wi h
op imiza ions. I may ake an hou o un on a s anda d desk op and o his eason i
should mos ly be un in backg ound.
