Abstract
Based on the merged measurements from the TRMM Precipitation Radar and Visible and Infrared Scanner, refined characteristics (intensity, frequency, vertical structure, and diurnal variation) and regional differences of the warm rain over the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean (40ffiS-40ffiN, 120ffiE-70ffiW) in boreal summer are investigated for the period 1998-2012. The results reveal that three warm rain types (phased, pure, and mixed) exist over these regions. The phased warm rain, which occurs during the developing or declining stage of precipitation weather systems, is located over the central to western Intertropical Convergence Zone, South Pacific Convergence Zone, and Northwest Pacific. Its occurrence frequency peaks at midnight and minimizes during daytime with a 5.5-km maximum echo top. The frequency of this warm rain type is about 2.2%, and it contributes to 40% of the regional total rainfall. The pure warm rain is characterized by typical stable precipitation with an echo top lower than 4 km, and mostly occurs in Southeast Pacific. Although its frequency is less than 1.3%, this type of warm rain accounts for 95% of the regional total rainfall. Its occurrence peaks before dawn and it usually disappears in the afternoon. For the mixed warm rain, some may develop into deep convective precipitation, while most are similar to those of the pure type. The mixed warm rain is mainly located over the ocean east of Hawaii. Its frequency is 1.2%, but this type of warm rain could contribute to 80% of the regional total rainfall. The results also uncover that the mixed and pure types occur over the regions where SST ranges from 295 to 299 K, accompanied by relatively strong downdrafts at 500 hPa. Both the mixed and pure warm rains happen in a more unstable atmosphere, compared with the phased warm rain.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albrecht, B. A., C. S. Bretherton, D. Johnson, et al., 1995: The Atlantic stratocumulus transition experiment (ASTEX). Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 76, 889–904, doi: 10.1175/1520-0477(1995)076<0889:TASTE>2.0.CO;2.
Austin, P., Y. N. Wang, V. Kujala, et al., 1995: Precipitation in stratocumulus clouds: Observational and modeling results. J. Atmos. Sci., 52, 2329–2352, doi: 10.1175/1520-0469(1995)052<2329:PISCOA>2.0.CO;2.
Awaka, J., T. Iguchi, and K. Okamoto, 1998: Early results on rain type classification by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation radar. Proc. 8th URSI commission Final Open Symp., Aveiro, Portugal, 143–146.
Bajuk, L. J., and C. B. Leovy, 1998: Are there real interdecadal variations in marine low clouds? J. Climate, 11, 2910–2921, doi: 10.1175/1520-0442(1998)011<2910:ATRIVI>2.0.CO;2.
Baker, M., 1993: Trade cumulus observations. The Representation of Cumulus Convection in Numerical Models. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 29–37, doi: 10.1007/978-1-935704-13-3_3.
Beard, K. V., and H. T. Ochs, 1993: Warm-rain initiation: An overview of microphysical mechanisms. J. Appl. Meteor., 32, 608–625, doi: 10.1175/1520-0450(1993)032<0608:WRIAOO>2.0.CO;2.
Bowman, K. P., J. C. Collier, G. R. North, et al., 2005: Diurnal cycle of tropical precipitation in Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite and ocean buoy rain gauge data. J. Geophys. Res., 110, doi: 10.1029/2005JD005763.
Bretherton, C. S., P. Austin, and S. T. Siems, 1995: Cloudiness and marine boundary layer dynamics in the ASTEX Lagrangian experiments. Part II: Cloudiness, drizzle, surface fluxes, and entrainment. J. Atmos. Sci., 52, 2724–2735, doi: 10.1175/1520–0469(1995)052<2724:CAMBLD>2.0.CO;2.
Bretherton, C. S., and M. C. Wyant, 1997: Moisture transport, lower-tropospheric stability, and decoupling of cloud-topped boundary layers. J. Atmos. Sci., 54, 148–167, doi: 10.1175/1520–0469(1997)054<0148:MTLTSA>2.0.CO;2.
Chen, R. Y., Z. Q. Li, R. J. Kuligowski, et al., 2011: A study of warm rain detection using A-Train satellite data. Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L04804, doi: 10.1029/2010GL046217.
Cox, S. K., D. S. McDougal, D. A. Randall, et al., 1987: FIRE the first ISCCP regional experiment. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 68, 114–118, doi: 10. 1175/1520-0477(1987)068<0114:FFIRE>2.0.CO;2.
Del Genio, A. D., and W. Kovan, 2002: Climatic properties of tropical precipitating convection under varying environmental conditions. J. Climate, 15, 2597–2615, doi: 10.1175/1520-0442(2002)015<2597: CPOTPC>2.0.CO;2.
Fisher, B. L., 2004: Climatological validation of TRMM TMI and PR monthly rain products over Oklahoma. J. Appl. Meteor., 43, 519–535, doi: 10.1175/1520-0450(2004)043<0519:CVOTTA>2.0.CO;2.
Fu Yunfei, Lin Yihua, Liu Guosheng, et al., 2003: Seasonal characteristics of precipitation in 1998 over East Asia as derived from TRMM PR. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 20, 511–529, doi: 10.1007/BF02915495.
Fu Yunfei, Feng Jingyi, Zhu Hongfang, et al., 2006: Precipitation structures of a thermal convective system in the central western subtropical Pacific anticyclone. Acta Meteor. Sinica, 20, 232–243.
Fu Yunfei, Zhang Aimin, Liu Yong, et al., 2008: Characteristics of seasonal scale convective and stratiform precipitation in Asia based on measurements by TRMM Precipitation Radar. Acta Meteor. Sincia, 66, 730–746, doi: 10.11676/qxxb2008.067. (in Chinese)
Fu Yunfei, Liu Peng, Liu Qi, et al., 2011: Climatological characteristics of VIRS channels for precipitating cloud in summer over the tropics and subtropics. J. Atmos. Environ. Opt., 6, 129–140, doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-6141.2011.02.009. (in Chinese)
Holland, J. Z., and E. M. Rasmussen, 1973: Measurements of the atmospheric mass, energy, and momentum budgets over a 500-km square of tropical ocean. Mon. Wea. Rev., 101, 44–55, doi: 10.1175/1520–0493(1973)101<0044:MOTAME>2.3. CO;2.
Iguchi, T., T. Kozu, R. Meneghini, et al., 2000: Rainprofiling algorithm for the TRMM precipitation radar. J. Appl. Meteor., 39, 2038–2052, doi: 10. 1175/1520-0450(2001)040<2038:RPAFTT>2.0.CO;2.
Johnson, R. H., and X. Lin, 1997: Episodic trade wind regimes over the western Pacific warm pool. J. Atmos. Sci., 54, 2020–2034, doi: 10.1175/1520–0469(1997)054<2020:ETWROT>2.0.CO;2.
Johnson, R. H., T. M. Rickenbach, S. A. Rutledge, et al., 1999: Trimodal characteristics of tropical convection. J. Climate, 12, 2397–2418, doi: 10.1175/15200442(1999)012<2397:TCOTC>2.0.CO;2.
Kalnay, E., M. Kanamitsu, R. Kistler, et al., 1996: The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77, 437–471, doi: 10.1175/1520–0477(1996)077<0437:TNYRP>2.0.CO;2.
Klein, S. A., and D. L. Hartmann, 1993: The seasonal cycle of low stratiform clouds. J. Climate, 6, 1587–1606, doi: 10.1175/1520–0442(1993)006<1587: TSCOLS>2.0.CO;2.
Kodama, Y. M., M. Katsumata, S. Mori, et al., 2009: Climatology of warm rain and associated latent heating derived from TRMM PR observations. J. Climate, 22, 4908–4929, doi: 10.1175/2009JCLI2575.1.
Kummerow, C., W. Barnes, T. Kozu, et al., 1998: The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) sensor package. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 15, 809–817, doi: 10.1175/1520–0426(1998)015<0809:TTRMMT>2.0.CO;2.
Lau, K. M., and H. T. Wu, 2003: Warm rain processes over tropical oceans and climate implications. Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 2290, doi: 10.1029/2003GL018567.
Lavoie, R. L., 1967: The warm rain project in Hawaii. Tellus, 19, 347–347, doi: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1967.tb01488.x.
Lin, B., and W. B. Rossow, 1997: Precipitation water path and rainfall rate estimates over oceans using special sensor microwave imager and International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project data. J. Geophys. Res., 102, 9359–9374, doi: 10.1029/96JD03987.
Liou, K. N., 2004: An Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation. China Meteorological Press, Beijing, 614 pp.
Liu, C. T., and E. J. Zipser, 2009: “Warm rain” in the tropics: Seasonal and regional distributions based on 9 yr of TRMM data. J. Climate, 22, 767–779, doi: 10.1175/2008JCLI2641.1.
Liu Dongyang, Liu Qi, and Zhou Lingli, 2015: Underestimation of oceanic warm cloud occurrences by the Cloud Profiling Radar aboard CloudSat. J. Meteor. Res., 29, 576–593, doi: 10.1007/s13351-015-5027-5.
Liu, G. S., J. A. Curry, and R. S. Sheu, 1995: Classification of clouds over the western equatorial Pacific Ocean using combined infrared and microwave satellite data. J. Geophys. Res., 100, 13811–13826, doi: 10.1029/95JD00823.
Liu, G. S., and Y. F. Fu, 2001: The characteristics of tropical precipitation profiles as inferred from satellite radar measurements. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 79, 131–143, doi: 10.2151/jmsj.79.131.
Liu Peng, Li Chongyin, Wang Yu, et al., 2013: Climatic characteristics of convective and stratiform precipitation over the tropical and subtropical areas as derived from TRMM PR. Sci. China (Ser. D), 56, 375–385, doi: 10.1007/s11430-012-4474-4.
Liu Xiantong, Liu Qi, Fu Yunfei, et al., 2010: Daytime cloud detection scheme relying on five-channel measurements from TRMM VIRS. J. Atmos. Environ. Opt., 5, 128–140, doi: 10.3969/j.issn.16736141.2010.02.007. (in Chinese)
Lu Ping, Yu Rucong, and Zhou Tianjun, 2008: Numerical simulation of the mid-night rainfall over Sichuan basin during August 2003. Acta Meteor. Sinica, 66, 371–380, doi: 10.11676/qxxb2008.035. (in Chinese)
Mapes, B. E., 2000: Convective inhibition, subgridscale triggering energy, and stratiform instability in a toy tropical wave model. J. Atmos. Sci., 57, 1515–1535, doi: 10.1175/1520-0469(2000)057<1515:CISSTE>2.0.CO;2.
Norris, J. R., 1998: Low cloud type over the ocean from surface observations. Part I: Relationship to surface meteorology and the vertical distribution of temperature and moisture. J. Climate, 11, 369–382, doi: 10.1175/1520-0442(1998)011<0369:LCTOTO>2.0.CO;2.
Petty, G. W., 1995: Frequencies and characteristics of global oceanic precipitation from shipboard present-weather reports. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 76, 1593–1616, doi: 10.1175/1520-0477(1995) 076<1593:FACOGO>2.0.CO;2.
Petty, G. W., 1999: Prevalence of precipitation from warm-topped clouds over eastern Asia and the western Pacific. J. Climate, 12, 220–229, doi: 10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012<0220:POPFWT>2.0.CO;2.
Rossow, W. B., and R. A. Schiffer, 1991: ISCCP cloud data products. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 72, 2–20, doi: 10.1175/1520-0477(1991)072<0002:ICDP>2.0.CO;2.
Schiffer, R. A., and W. B. Rossow, 1983: The International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP): The first project of theWorld Climate Research Programme. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 64, 779–784.
Schumacher, C., and R. A. Houze Jr., 2003: The TRMM Precipitation Radar's view of shallow, isolated rain. J. Appl. Meteor., 42, 1519–1524, doi: 10.1175/15200450(2003)042<1519:TTPRVO>2.0.CO;2.
Short, D. A., and K. Nakamura, 2000: TRMM radar observations of shallow precipitation over the tropical oceans. J. Climate, 13, 4107–4124, doi: 10.1175/1520-0442(2000)013<4107:TROOSP>2.0.CO;2.
Takahashi, T., 1977: A study of Hawaiian warm rain showers based on aircraft observation. J. Atmos. Sci., 34, 1773–1790, doi: 10.1175/1520-0469(1977)034<1773:ASOHWR>2.0.CO;2.
Takahashi, T., 1981: Warm rain study in Hawaiirain initiation. J. Atmos. Sci., 38, 347–369, doi: 10. 1175/1520-0469(1981)038<0347:WRSIHI>2.0.CO;2.
Tokay, A., D. A. Short, C. R. Williams, et al., 1999: Tropical rainfall associated with convective and stratiform clouds: Intercomparison of disdrometer and profiler measurements. J. Appl. Meteor., 38, 302–320, doi: 10.1175/15200450(1999)038<0302:TRAWCA>2.0.CO;2.
Wang Fuchang, Yu Rucong, Chen Haoming, et al., 2011: The characteristics of rainfall diurnal variation over the southwestern China. Torrential Rain Disaster, 30, 117–121, doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-9045.2011.02.003. (in Chinese)
Warren, S. G., C. J. Hahn, J. London, et al., 1988: Global Distribution of Total Cloud Cover and Cloud Type Amounts over the Ocean. NCAR Tech. Note NCAR/TN-317+STR, Boulder, USA, 32–33, doi: 10.5065/D6GH9FXB.
Woodruff, S. D., R. J. Slutz, R. L. Jenne, et al., 1987: A comprehensive ocean–atmosphere data set. Bull. Amer. Meteor., 68, 1239–1250. doi: 10.1175/1520–0477(1987)068<1239:ACOADS>2.0.CO;2.
Wu, Z. H., 2003: A shallow CISK, deep equilibrium mechanism for the interaction between large-scale convection and large-scale circulations in the tropics. J. Atmos. Sci., 60, 377–392, doi: 10.1175/1520-0469(2003)060<0377:ASCDEM>2.0.CO;2.
Yin Jinfang, Wang Donghai, Zhai Guoqing, et al., 2013: Observational characteristics of cloud vertical profiles over the East Asian Continent from the Cloudsat data. J. Meteor. Res., 27, 26–39, doi: 10.1007/s13351-013-0104-0.
Yuter, S. E., and R. A. Houze Jr., 1995: Threedimensional kinematic and microphysical evolution of Florida cumulonimbus. Part II: Frequency distributions of vertical velocity, reflectivity, and differential reflectivity. Mon. Wea. Rev., 123, 1941–1963, doi: 10.1175/1520-0493(1995)123<1941:TDKAME>2.0.CO;2.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41230419, 91337213, 40730950, and 40375018), and China Meteorological Administration Special Public Welfare Research Fund (GYHY201306077).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Qin, F., Fu, Y. TRMM-observed summer warm rain over the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean: Characteristics and regional differences. J Meteorol Res 30, 371–385 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-016-5151-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-016-5151-x