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Chin. Phys. B, 2012, Vol. 21(5): 054215    DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/21/5/054215
ELECTROMAGNETISM, OPTICS, ACOUSTICS, HEAT TRANSFER, CLASSICAL MECHANICS, AND FLUID DYNAMICS Prev   Next  

Effects of sea surface temperature, cloud radiative and microphysical processes, and diurnal variations on rainfall in equilibrium cloud-resolving model simulations

Jiang Zhe(蒋哲)a), Li Xiao-Fan(李小凡)b), Zhou Yu-Shu(周玉淑)c), and Gao Shou-Ting(高守亭) c)†
a. Institute of Remoting Sensing Applications, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
b. NOAA/NESDIS/Center for Satellite Applications and Research Camp Springs, Maryland 21029, USA;
c. Laboratory of Cloud-Precipitation Physics and Severe Storms (LACS), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Abstract  The effects of sea surface temperature (SST), cloud radiative and microphysical processes, and diurnal variations on rainfall statistics are documented with grid data from the two-dimensional equilibrium cloud-resolving model simulations. For a rain rate of higher than 3 mm·h-1, water vapor convergence prevails. The rainfall amount decreases with the decrease of SST from 29℃ to 27℃, the inclusion of diurnal variation of SST, or the exclusion of microphysical effects of ice clouds and radiative effects of water clouds, which are primarily associated with the decreases in water vapor convergence. However, the amount of rainfall increases with the increase of SST from 29℃ to 31℃, the exclusion of diurnal variation of solar zenith angle, and the exclusion of the radiative effects of ice clouds, which are primarily related to increases in water vapor convergence. For a rain rate of less than 3 mm·h-1, water vapor divergence prevails. Unlike rainfall statistics for rain rates of higher than 3 mm·h-1, the decrease of SST from 29℃ to 27℃ and the exclusion of radiative effects of water clouds in the presence of radiative effects of ice clouds increase the rainfall amount, which corresponds to the suppression in water vapor divergence. The exclusion of microphysical effects of ice clouds decreases the amount of rainfall, which corresponds to the enhancement in water vapor divergence. The amount of rainfall is less sensitive to the increase of SST from 29℃ to 31℃ and to the radiative effects of water clouds in the absence of the radiative effects of ice clouds.
Keywords:  rain rate      sea surface temperature      radiative and microphysical effects of ice and water clouds      diurnal variation  
Received:  09 October 2011      Revised:  27 April 2012      Accepted manuscript online: 
PACS:  42.68.Ge (Effects of clouds and water; ice crystal phenomena)  
  92.60.N- (Cloud physics and chemistry)  
  92.60.jf (Precipitation)  
  92.60.Wc (Weather analysis and prediction)  
Fund: Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2012CB417201) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41075034, 40930950, 40975034, and 41075044)

Cite this article: 

Jiang Zhe(蒋哲), Li Xiao-Fan(李小凡), Zhou Yu-Shu(周玉淑), and Gao Shou-Ting(高守亭) Effects of sea surface temperature, cloud radiative and microphysical processes, and diurnal variations on rainfall in equilibrium cloud-resolving model simulations 2012 Chin. Phys. B 21 054215

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