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Yuter SE, Houze RA, Smith EA, Wilheit TT, Zipser E. Physical Characterization of Tropical Oceanic Convection Observed in KWAJEX. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005. [DOI: 10.1175/jam2206.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Kwajalein Experiment (KWAJEX) was designed to obtain an empirical physical characterization of precipitating convective clouds over the tropical ocean. Coordinated datasets were collected by three aircraft, one ship, five upper-air sounding sites, and a variety of continuously recording remote and in situ surface-based sensors, including scanning Doppler radars, profilers, disdrometers, and rain gauges. This paper describes the physical characterization of the Kwajalein cloud population that has emerged from analyses of datasets that were obtained during KWAJEX and combined with long-term TRMM ground validation site observations encompassing three rainy seasons. The spatial and temporal dimensions of the precipitation entities exhibit a lognormal probability distribution, as has been observed over other parts of the tropical ocean. The diurnal cycle of the convection is also generally similar to that seen over other tropical oceans. The largest precipitating cloud elements—those with rain areas exceeding 14 000 km2—have the most pronounced diurnal cycle, with a maximum frequency of occurrence before dawn; the smallest rain areas are most frequent in the afternoon. The large systems exhibited stratiform rain areas juxtaposed with convective regions. Frequency distributions of dual-Doppler radar data showed narrow versus broad spectra of divergence in the stratiform and convective regions, respectively, as expected because strong up- and downdrafts are absent in the stratiform regions. The dual-Doppler profiles consistently showed low-level convergence and upper-level divergence in convective regions and midlevel convergence sandwiched between lower- and upper-level divergence in stratiform regions. However, the magnitudes of divergence are sensitive to assumptions made in classifying the radar echoes as convective or stratiform. This sensitivity implies that heating profiles derived from satellite radar data will be sensitive to the details of the scheme used to separate convective and stratiform rain areas. Comparison of airborne passive microwave data with ground-based radar data indicates that the pattern of scattering of 85-GHz radiance by ice particles in the upper portions of KWAJEX precipitating clouds is poorly correlated with the precipitation pattern at lower levels while the emission channels (10 and 19 GHz) have brightness temperature patterns that closely correspond to the lower-level precipitation structure. In situ ice particle imagery obtained by aircraft at upper levels (∼11 km) shows that the concentrations of ice particles of all densities are greater in the upper portions of active convective rain regions and lower in the upper portions of stratiform regions, probably because the active updrafts convey the particles to upper levels, whereas in the stratiform regions sedimentation removes the larger ice particles over time. Low-level aircraft flying in the rain layer show similar total drop concentrations in and out of convective cells, but they also show a sudden jump in the concentration of larger raindrops at the boundaries of the cells, indicating a discontinuity in growth processes such as coalescence at the cell boundary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra E. Yuter
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Robert A. Houze
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - Eric A. Smith
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
| | - Thomas T. Wilheit
- Department of Meteorology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Edward Zipser
- Department of Meteorology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
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Gebremichael M, Krajewski WF. Assessment of the Statistical Characterization of Small-Scale Rainfall Variability from Radar: Analysis of TRMM Ground Validation Datasets. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004. [DOI: 10.1175/1520-0450(2004)043<1180:aotsco>2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Habib E, Krajewski WF. Uncertainty Analysis of the TRMM Ground-Validation Radar-Rainfall Products: Application to the TEFLUN-B Field Campaign. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2002. [DOI: 10.1175/1520-0450(2002)041<0558:uaottg>2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Rickenbach TM. Modulation of convection in the southwestern Amazon basin by extratropical stationary fronts. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2002. [DOI: 10.1029/2000jd000263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Robinson M, Kulie M, Silberstein D, Marks D, Wolff D, Amatai E, Ferrier B, Fisher B, Wang J. Evolving improvements to TRMM ground validation rainfall estimates. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2000. [DOI: 10.1016/s1464-1909(00)00135-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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