Why Are Northwest Pacific Typhoons So Strong?… KIOST Reveals Core Mechanism Behind Super Typhoon Formation

A study revealing the core mechanism of super typhoons occurring in the Pacific Ocean is gaining attention.

The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) has, for the first time in the world, identified the mechanism by which super typhoons strongly occur year-round in the Northwest Pacific, the region with the most active typhoon activity, and published the findings in the prestigious international journal Nature Communications.

The Northwest Pacific is a representative typhoon-generating area where powerful typhoons occur annually, causing significant impacts on East Asian regions including South Korea. In particular, oceanic climate changes in this area play an important role in understanding and predicting global climate change characteristics.

The research team analyzed the occurrence trends and oceanic environmental characteristics of super typhoons in the Northwest Pacific, including Super Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, which maintained Category 5 status for the longest period in history?3.5 days.

According to the study, the high ocean heat capacity of the North Equatorial Current flowing between 8°N and 17°N, and the strong density difference caused by low-salinity water generated in the equatorial convergence zone, were identified as the main causes of super typhoon formation.

Trends in the increase of ocean heat content in the Kuroshio Current region over the past 40 years.

When a typhoon passes over sea areas with high ocean heat capacity and sea surface temperatures above 26°C, it can receive a large amount of energy from the ocean and grow into a super typhoon.

Until now, the prevailing theory was that the high ocean heat capacity of mesoscale eddies distributed between 17°N and 25°N in the Northwest Pacific triggered rapid intensification of typhoons, leading to super typhoon formation.

This study newly revealed that the North Equatorial Current plays an important role in the year-round occurrence of super typhoons and clarified the underlying mechanism.

Additionally, the research team presented evidence that due to climate change, the ocean heat capacity in the North Equatorial Current region has been continuously increasing over the past 40 years, along with a sustained increase in rapid intensification events of typhoons.

In particular, Super Typhoon Mawar, which occurred in May last year, maintained Category 5 status for the longest duration among typhoons occurring in May. Using an underwater profiling robot deployed during this research project, it was confirmed that sea surface cooling caused by the typhoon was suppressed within 1.0°C, allowing Mawar to maintain super typhoon intensity. This data was used to verify the super typhoon intensification mechanism proposed in the paper.

The path of Super Typhoon Mawar, which maintained Category 5 status for the longest duration in May history.

This research achievement is evaluated as a meaningful result demonstrating that South Korea’s oceanic and typhoon research capabilities have reached a world-class level.

The paper’s findings and ocean observation data are expected to serve as fundamental data for long-term projections of oceanic climate change patterns. It is anticipated to contribute to preventing damage caused by marine climate disasters and to establishing countermeasures in the future.

This research project was conducted under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries’ Marine Science and Technology R&D program. It is an international collaborative research achievement with co-authors from KIOST, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Sorbonne University in France, National Taiwan University, University of Rhode Island in the U.S., University of Galway in Ireland, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.