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Differences between Convective and Stratiform Precipitation Budgets in a Torrential Rainfall Event

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Abstract

Differences in rainfall budgets between convective and stratiform regions of a torrential rainfall event were investigated using high-resolution simulation data produced by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The convective and stratiform regions were reasonably separated by the radar-based convective–stratiform partitioning method, and the three-dimensional WRF-based precipitation equation combining water vapor and hydrometeor budgets was further used to analyze the rainfall budgets. The results showed that the magnitude of precipitation budget processes in the convective region was one order larger than that in the stratiform region. In convective/stratiform updraft regions, precipitation was mainly from the contribution of moisture-related processes, with a small negative contribution from cloud-related processes. In convective/ stratiform downdraft regions, cloud-related processes played positive roles in precipitation, while moisture-related processes made a negative contribution. Moisture flux convergence played a dominant role in the moisture-related processes in convective or stratiform updraft regions, which was closely related to large-scale dynamics. Differences in cloud-related processes between convective and stratiform regions were more complex compared with those in moisture-related processes. Both liquid- and ice-phase microphysical processes were strong in convective/stratiform updraft regions, and ice-phase processes were dominant in convective/stratiform downdraft regions. There was strong net latent heating within almost the whole troposphere in updraft regions, especially in the convective updraft region, while the net latent heating (cooling) mainly existed above (below) the zero-layer in convective/stratiform downdraft regions.

概要

本文使用WRF模式对一次暴雨过程的高分辨率模拟资料研究了对流区和层状区降水收支过程的差异. 基于雷达反射率的对流-层状分类方法合理地识别出对流区和层状区. 进一步使用基于WRF模式并结合了水汽收支和云水凝物收支的降水收支方程对降水过程进行分析. 结果表明, 对流区降水收支过程要比层状区的大一个量级; 在对流/层状上升区, 降水主要来自水汽相关过程的正贡献和云相关过程弱的负贡献; 在对流/层状下沉区, 云相关过程对降水起到正作用, 而水汽相关过程是负贡献; 在对流/层状上升区, 水汽通量辐合在水汽相关过程中起到主导作用, 这与大尺度运动密切相关; 对流和层状区的云相关过程差异比水汽相关过程的更加复杂; 在对流/层状上升区, 液相和冰相微物理过程强度相当, 而在对流/层状下沉区则以冰相过程为主导; 在对流/层状上升区, 净潜热加热在整个对流层都很强, 尤其在对流上升区, 而在对流/层状下沉区, 净潜热加热(冷却)主要位于零度层之上(下).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA23090101), the Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZZD-EW-05-01), and the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (Grant No. 2015CB452804). This work was carried out at the National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin, and the calculations were performed using TianHe-1(A).

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  1. Key Laboratory of Cloud-Precipitation Physics and Severe Storms, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Yongjie Huang, Yaping Wang & Xiaopeng Cui

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Xiaopeng Cui

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Yongjie Huang, Yaping Wang & Xiaopeng Cui

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Article Highlights

• Precipitation budget processes in the convective region were one order of magnitude larger than those in the stratiform region.

• Moisture-related processes mainly contributed to precipitation in updraft regions, while cloud-related processes dominated in downdraft regions.

• Both liquid- and ice-phase microphysical processes were strong in updraft regions, and ice-phase processes were dominant in downdraft regions.

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Huang, Y., Wang, Y. & Cui, X. Differences between Convective and Stratiform Precipitation Budgets in a Torrential Rainfall Event. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 36, 495–509 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-019-8159-1

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