Abstract
The microphysics behind the formation of rain droplets is an important feature influencing orographic precipitation at any location. The raindrop microphysics were determined for the precipitation in Mahabaleshwar, the orographic region of the Western Ghats in the Indian subcontinent, using Joss–Waldvogel Disdrometer (JWD) observational data for the period from 2013 to 2019. Smaller (< 1 mm) rain droplets were found to be dominant in monsoon seasons, while in the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon, a higher concentration of medium-sized (1–3 mm) and larger (> 3 mm) rain droplets were observed. In each season, the peak rain droplet concentration moved toward giant rain droplets with increasing rain rate. The probability density function of mass-weighted mean diameter (Dm), normalized-intercept parameter (log10Nw), rain rate (log10R), liquid water content (log10W), shape parameter (µ), and slope parameter (Λ) indicate a clear distinction in all three seasons. High Dm and lower log10Nw mean values were observed during the convective precipitation, while the opposite was observed during the stratiform rainfall of each season, except for the post-monsoon convective precipitation. Monsoon rainfall of both convective and stratiform nature had the lowest Dm and highest log10Nw compared to the respective cloud structure of pre-monsoon and post-monsoon. The Dm and log10Nw values in post-monsoon stratiform rain lay between the values observed in the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. At the same time, the convective precipitation in the post-monsoon had the highest Dm value, with a larger log10Nw than the pre-monsoon convective precipitation. A unique µ-Λ quadratic equation was also determined for the pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon season rain events.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Director, IITM, Pune, for his encouragement and support. Thanks are due for the use of Disdrometer data from HACPL, Mahabaleshwar. One of the authors, MKS, is thankful to ISRO-ARFI and BHU-IoE for the financial support. The authors are thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions to improve the manuscript.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by AK and AKS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by AK, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Kumar, A., Srivastava, A.K., Chakravarty, K. et al. Long-term Seasonal Characteristics of Raindrop Microphysics During Different Rain Events Over the Western Ghats of India. Pure Appl. Geophys. 179, 3875–3892 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-022-03167-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-022-03167-w