RÉSUMÉ

The processes proceeding in the thin two-phase layer on the heated surface of the ocean are being studied. The two-phase layer consists of a high-humidity air (a mixture of air with water vapor) and fine water droplets formed on destruction of gravitational waves propagating over the heated surface of the ocean. The mechanisms leading to the appearance of vortex structures in the Earth’s atmosphere and, in particular, to the conditions of the onset of hurricanes have been considered. An analysis of the mechanisms of generation of vortices and of the physical models that describe the phenomena occurring in a vortex has been carried out. A system of equations that describes the dynamics of the thin two-phase layer on the heated surface of the ocean and of the motion of humid air in the near-surface layer of the ocean has been suggested. The proposed system of equations allows one to carry out numerical calculations of vortex flows in the humid air of the near-surface layer over the ocean and to obtain dimension-less criteria of the origination of a vortex with a vertical axis. The possibility of strengthening a weak vortex and of the conversion of it into a hurricane is discussed. The possibilities of artificial generation of vortices on exposure of a heated surface of the ocean to the action of an intense SHF beam as well as the possibilities of using artificial vortices for both altering the trajectory of motion of an incipient tropical cyclone (hurricane) and protection of objects from destruction are discussed briefly.