Buoyancy in tropical cyclones and other rapidly rotating atmospheric vortices

Finally, we discuss the generation of buoyancy in tropical cyclones and contrast the definitions of buoyancy that have been used in recent studies of tropical cyclones. We emphasize the non-uniqueness of the buoyancy force, which depends on the choice of a reference density and pressure, and note that different, but equivalent interpretations of the flow dynamics may be expected to arise if different reference quantities are chosen.