Numerical study on structure of meso-β scale rainstorm system during IOP523 of HUAMEX

Abstract

One of the scientific goals of HUAMEX (Torrential Rainfall Experiment over Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait and Adjacent Area), a special project in the National “863” Scientific Project, is to reveal meso-β scale structure of heavy rainfall. However, limited by the observational instruments, the resolution of the data attained from the outfield scientific observation network cannot reveal the meso-β scale structure. A 36-h numerical simulation of heavy rainfall case from May 23 to May 24, 1998 during IOP523 of HUAMEX was performed by the mesoscale numerical model of PSU/NCAR MM5, and the meso-β scale structure of convective system was examined based on the model output in this note. The results point out that the meso-β scale features of the heavy rainfall are clear considerably at low, middle and upper levels, respectively. There is a strong ageostrophic feature between the geopotential height field and the wind field on the upper level. The vertical cross sections of 54 km coarse grid and 18 km fine grid both show the vertical circulation cells of the rainstorm clearly, which include a descending middle-level rear inflow and strong ascending low-level inflow. More importantly, the 18 km fine grid vertical section reveals another shallow vertical circulation cell in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) below 900 h Pa, which relates to the draggle flow resulting from the falling raindrops.