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Title: Warm‐Season Afternoon Precipitation Peak in the Central Bay of Bengal: Process‐Oriented Diagnostics

Abstract

Abstract Past studies have indicated that precipitation over tropical open oceans generally peaks in the early morning. However, an intriguing departure from this pattern is observed in the central Bay of Bengal (CBoB), where rainfall exhibits a distinct afternoon peak during the South Asian summer monsoon season. By using a novel satellite‐based cloud classification and tracking data set, we found that more than 75% of the afternoon rainfall (15–17 LST) over the CBoB comes from mesoscale convective systems (MCSs). Most of the MCSs contributing to the CBoB afternoon rainfall peak originate either locally over the CBoB or near the west and east coasts of the BoB, in contrast to the northern BoB as highlighted in previous studies. Analyses show that MCSs initiated near coastlines are primarily influenced by land‐sea breezes, whereas MCSs initiated over the BoB open ocean during early morning are strongly associated with diurnal radiative forcings. In addition, there are clear diurnal propagating MCS initiation signals from the west and north coastlines of the BoB to the CBoB, which are related to diurnal gravity waves emitted from the coastlines. The thermodynamic conditions conducive to MCS initiation over different sub‐regions of the BoB are also investigated. No systematic differencesmore » found in environmental convective available potential energy between days with and without MCS initiation. However, over most sub‐regions, days with MCS initiation generally have higher total column water vapor than days without MCS initiation. This difference suggests that the lower‐free‐tropospheric moisture content plays an important role in MCS initiation over the BoB.« less

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
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  1. Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science Center for Advanced Data Assimilation and Predictability Techniques The Pennsylvania State University University Park PA USA
Publication Date:
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1988664
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1988665
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Journal Volume: 128 Journal Issue: 13; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Citation Formats

Peng, Chin‐Hsuan, and Chen, Xingchao. Warm‐Season Afternoon Precipitation Peak in the Central Bay of Bengal: Process‐Oriented Diagnostics. United States: N. p., 2023. Web. doi:10.1029/2022JD038398.
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Peng, Chin‐Hsuan, & Chen, Xingchao. Warm‐Season Afternoon Precipitation Peak in the Central Bay of Bengal: Process‐Oriented Diagnostics. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD038398
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Peng, Chin‐Hsuan, and Chen, Xingchao. Sat . "Warm‐Season Afternoon Precipitation Peak in the Central Bay of Bengal: Process‐Oriented Diagnostics". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD038398.
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@article{osti_1988664,
title = {Warm‐Season Afternoon Precipitation Peak in the Central Bay of Bengal: Process‐Oriented Diagnostics},
author = {Peng, Chin‐Hsuan and Chen, Xingchao},
abstractNote = {Abstract Past studies have indicated that precipitation over tropical open oceans generally peaks in the early morning. However, an intriguing departure from this pattern is observed in the central Bay of Bengal (CBoB), where rainfall exhibits a distinct afternoon peak during the South Asian summer monsoon season. By using a novel satellite‐based cloud classification and tracking data set, we found that more than 75% of the afternoon rainfall (15–17 LST) over the CBoB comes from mesoscale convective systems (MCSs). Most of the MCSs contributing to the CBoB afternoon rainfall peak originate either locally over the CBoB or near the west and east coasts of the BoB, in contrast to the northern BoB as highlighted in previous studies. Analyses show that MCSs initiated near coastlines are primarily influenced by land‐sea breezes, whereas MCSs initiated over the BoB open ocean during early morning are strongly associated with diurnal radiative forcings. In addition, there are clear diurnal propagating MCS initiation signals from the west and north coastlines of the BoB to the CBoB, which are related to diurnal gravity waves emitted from the coastlines. The thermodynamic conditions conducive to MCS initiation over different sub‐regions of the BoB are also investigated. No systematic differences found in environmental convective available potential energy between days with and without MCS initiation. However, over most sub‐regions, days with MCS initiation generally have higher total column water vapor than days without MCS initiation. This difference suggests that the lower‐free‐tropospheric moisture content plays an important role in MCS initiation over the BoB.},
doi = {10.1029/2022JD038398},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres},
number = 13,
volume = 128,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jul 08 00:00:00 EDT 2023},
month = {Sat Jul 08 00:00:00 EDT 2023}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD038398
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