The Influence of Aerosols and Meteorological Conditions on the Total Rain Volume of the Mesoscale Convective Systems Over Tropical Continents

Journal Article · 02 December 2018 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gl080371 · OSTI ID:1611606

Chakraborty, Sudip  ^[1]; Fu, Rong  ^[2]; Rosenfeld, Daniel  ^[3]; Massie, Steven T.  ^[4]

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1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); DOE/OSTI
2. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
3. Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem (Israel)
4. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Lab. for Atmospheric and Space Physics

This study provides an observational assessment of the variations of the total rain volume (TRV) with aerosols through the entire lifetime of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) over tropics. Using 70,000 MCSs' samples, we show that TRV increases with aerosols from clean to moderately heavy polluted conditions (aerosol optical depth [AOD] ~ 0.0–0.4). TRV decreases when AOD exceeds 0.5. The TRV change with AOD is strongest under favorable meteorological conditions, such as high total precipitable water (45–75 kg/m²), high convective available potential energy (1,200–2,400 J/kg), and intermediate vertical wind shear (9–21 × 10^-4/s). TRV of MCSs increases from 2 to 4 km³ (rain depth ~ 20–40 mm) when AOD < 0.15 or >0.5, to more than 12 km³ (~120 mm) when 0.2 < AOD < 0.4 under above the mentioned optimal meteorological conditions. The basic response of TRV to aerosol concentrations is similar under all the meteorological conditions and during all stages of the MCS lifecycle..

• Research Organization: Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0011117
• OSTI ID: 1611606
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 23 Vol. 45; ISSN 0094-8276
• Publisher: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English