Reply to Comment by Chang on "Using the Curvature of the Local Wind to
Separate Energetics Contributions from Cyclones and Anticyclones is not
Physically Meaningful"
Abstract
Chang (2024) challenged the methodology proposed recently by Okajima et
al. for evaluating cyclonic and anticyclonic contributions to Eulerian
eddy statistics and atmospheric energetics based on the local flow
curvature. He argued that using the local wind curvature to separate
energetic contributions from cyclones and anticyclones is not physically
meaningful. Here we argue that his claims are based on an unrealistic
assumption of monopolar relative vorticity in an entire storm-track
domain and a meridionally uniform zonal background flow atypical to
midlatitudes. We also demonstrate that the error in attributing eddy
statistics to cyclones and anticyclones is significantly smaller than
his estimation. Rather, we further demonstrate that the curvature-based
methodology effectively eliminates the shear influence to identify
cyclonic and anticyclonic regions, which is dismissed in his argument.
We conclude that the curvature-based methodology is beneficial in
evaluating distinct cyclonic and anticyclonic contributions to
atmospheric energetics in realistic conditions.