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A diagnostic study of heavy rainfall events in upper Ganga and Sharda river basins, India

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Abstract

Upper Ganga (UG) and Sharda are two river basins in Uttarakhand, India that are situated in the western Himalayan region. Previous studies revealed that these basins are prone to high seasonal rainfall (more than 100 cm) and substantial interannual variations during the southwest monsoon season. However, synoptic situations causing heavy rainfall events in the basins are not properly understood. The present study attempts to understand the synoptic situations causing heavy rainfall events in the basins using synoptic analogue and rainfall data from India Meteorological Department, followed by a diagnostic assessment using ERA5 reanalysis data. The synoptic systems associated with heavy rainfall events in the basins are found to be different. Heavy rainfall events in UG are triggered by the movement of mid-latitude systems (trough in westerlies) towards north India which provide convergence at middle and upper tropospheric levels. These systems strengthen when they are supported by the northward progression of the monsoon trough (especially the western end of the monsoon trough) and embedded cyclonic circulations. We found that heavy rainfall events in UG are associated with the development of a cyclonic circulation extending up to the mid-troposphere/low-pressure system in the northwest Bay of Bengal. The mid-tropospheric divergence over this cyclonic circulation system feeds moisture to the convergence due to the southward extended trough in the mid-latitude westerlies and caters to the formation of heavy rainfall events in the basin. Heavy rainfall events in Sharda are associated with the movement of low-pressure systems from the Bay of Bengal towards the region, which provides anomalous convergence in the lower levels. It is supported by a trough in the mid-latitude westerlies in the mid and upper tropospheric levels, which increases the convergence at lower and mid-tropospheric levels and leads to heavy rainfall events in the basin. This study reveals the tropical-midlatitude interaction and its role in the heavy rainfall events over the western Himalayan region.

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Data availability

The gridded rainfall data used to produce Fig. 3 is from IMD (https://www.imdpune.gov.in/cmpg/Griddata/Rainfall_25_NetCDF.html). The fifth-generation ECMWF atmospheric reanalysis (ERA5) datasets were obtained from https://www.ecmwf.int/en/forecasts/datasets/reanalysis-datasets/era5. Station-wise rainfall data over Upper Ganga and Sharda basins and daily weather inferences are available on request from India Meteorological Department.

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Acknowledgements

The first and fourth authors are thankful to Dr. M. Mohapatra, DGM, India Meteorological Department and Mr. J. P. Gupta, Former Head, MC Lucknow for the facility and support. The first author is thankful to Mr. K.S. Hosalikar, Head, CRS Pune and Mr. A.D Tathe, CRS Pune. The third author acknowledges Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for providing fellowship grants (CSIR Award No: 09/625(0027)/2017-EMR-I).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pune, India

    B. L. Sudeepkumar

  2. Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

    C. B. Jayasankar

  3. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pune, India

    B. Lekshmi Mudra

  4. India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Kushinagar, India

    Om Mani Singh

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  1. B. L. Sudeepkumar
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Correspondence to B. L. Sudeepkumar.

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Sudeepkumar, B.L., Jayasankar, C.B., Mudra, B.L. et al. A diagnostic study of heavy rainfall events in upper Ganga and Sharda river basins, India. Meteorol Atmos Phys 135, 20 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-023-00954-5

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