Tropical Cyclone Destructive Potential by Integrated Kinetic Energy

sing the concept of integrated kinetic energy, Powell and Reinhold (2007a) proposed two ranking scales: one for wind destructive potential (Wdp) and the other for surge/waves (Sdp). To compute these ratings, they provided many statistical equations. As shown in Fig. 1, approximately 70% of the variation of Wdp can be explained by a single parameter Vms, the maximum sustained wind speed. Similarly, about 84% of the Sdp variation is contributed by the radius of tropical storm R18, as shown in Fig. 2. The maximum open-ocean surge along the storm track induced by the wind stress (Sx) is related linearly with the maximum significant wave height (Hsmax), such that (Hsu 2004)