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Global Variability of Intense Convection

Global Variability of Intense Convection. Robert A. Houze, Jr. University of Washington. ISSCP at 30, New York, 22 April 2013. Radars in Space. CloudSat 2006-. TRMM 1997-. Epic Floods in Pakistan 2010, 2011, 2012. TRMM data showing storms producing the floods. 2010. 2011. 2012. 30N.

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Global Variability of Intense Convection

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  1. Global Variability of Intense Convection Robert A. Houze, Jr. University of Washington ISSCP at 30, New York, 22 April 2013

  2. Radars in Space CloudSat 2006- TRMM 1997-

  3. Epic Floods in Pakistan2010, 2011, 2012

  4. TRMM data showing storms producing the floods 2010 2011 2012 30N Sindh 25N 65E 75E 65E 75E 65E 75E 16 Height (km) 8 0 0 287 0 232 0 241 Distance (km)

  5. These storms are • Mesoscale Convective Systems • “MCSs”

  6. Large areas of cold top Example outbreak of MCSs

  7. Radar echoes showing the precipitation in the 3 MCSs StratiformPrecipitation ConvectivePrecipitation 1458GMT 13 May 2004

  8. TRMM and CloudSat radars & other data have helped us map MCS occurrence globally

  9. TRMM Radar Distinguishes Convective and Stratiform Components of MCSs Identify each contiguous 3D echo objectseen on radar Convective component Stratiform component Extreme characteristic Contiguous 3D volume ofconvective echo > 40 dBZ Extreme characteristic Contiguous stratiform echowith horizontal area > 50 000 km2 “Broad stratiform region” Horizontal area >1 000 km2 “Wide convective core” Top height > 10 km “Deep convective core”

  10. Continents

  11. JJAS DJF Deep Convective Cores • South Asia&SouthAmerica Wide Convective Cores BroadStratiformRegions

  12. Deep Convective Cores Wide Convective Cores • Africa BroadStratiformRegions

  13. Oceans

  14. TRMM Radar Observations of the MJO over the Indian Ocean Active Phase Suppressed Phase Deep Convective Cores Broad Stratiform Rain Areas Phase 7

  15. The A-Train Era

  16. Details learned from field projects

  17. Basic components Cold top Convective Stratiform Anvil Anvil Houze et al. 1989 Raining core A-Train sees all of this!

  18. How A-Train sees the whole MCS 2 3 1

  19. The Anvil Problem Mesoscale Convective System Need to understand how anvil is related to the raining region Extensively studied

  20. Statistics of anvil width & thickness seen by CloudSat Africa Indian Ocean Yuan and Houze 2010

  21. Internal structure of MCS anvils Africa Indian Ocean Yuan, Houze, and Heymsfield 2011

  22. Combining cloud top and raining cores

  23. Identify High Cloud Systems (HCSs) Heavy rain Rain 260K Closedcontour Separated HCS Connected HCSs

  24. Which HCSs are MCSs? Yuan and Houze 2010

  25. PDF of rain amount as a function of raining core properties Min TB11 over raining core 220°K Using these values for “MCS” criteria 56% all tropical rain 2000 km2 Yuan and Houze 2010 Size of raining core

  26. MCSs Over the Whole Tropics Smallest 25% (<12,000 km2) Largest 25% (>40,000 km2) “Superclusters” Yuan and Houze 2010

  27. Indian Ocean MCSs Contribution to Rainfall by phase of the Madden-Julian Oscillation Active Suppressed Connected MCSs Separated MCSs Other high cloud systems Yuan and Houze 2012

  28. Composite MCS Lightning Eq. Africa Argentina West Pacific Eq. Atlantic Connected Separated • Determined from WWLLN

  29. Composite MCS Lightning in the MJO Separated ACTIVE Separated SUPPRESSED

  30. Conclusions • TRMM radar data: • Deep convection takes on various forms • Forms controlled bymountain ranges & flow regimes such as the MJO & monsoon • A-Train data • Show anvils of MCSs • Identifies MCSs globally • Lightning data related to MCSs, e. g. in MJO • To come: relate to aerosol observations

  31. End This research was supported by NASA grant NNX10AH70G, NASA grant NNX10AM28G, and NSF grant AGS-1144105

  32. CloudSat applied to MCS anvils

  33. Internal structure of MCS anvils CVCV CVCV Indian Ocean Anvils

  34. Cold top Anvil Anvil Raining core MODIS/AMSR-E identifies cold top locates the raining core remainder is anvil

  35. Frequency of MCS anvils over tropics Yuan and Houze 2010

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