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Vertical structure and kinematics of tropical monsoon precipitation observed from a 2875-MHz profiler during NAME

dc.contributor.authorLerach, David G., author
dc.contributor.authorDepartment of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, publisher
dc.coverage.spatialTropics
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-03T08:14:19Z
dc.date.available2007-01-03T08:14:19Z
dc.date.issued2006
dc.descriptionFall 2006.
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (pages 100-105).
dc.description.abstractDeep cloud systems in the Tropics play a significant role in the global heat budget. This is due to the fact that atmospheric circulations, such as the Hadley and Walker cells, are sensitive to the shape of the diabatic heating profile, which in turn depends on the vertical structure of tropical convective systems. The goal of this project is to create a climatology of the vertical structure of precipitating cloud systems that characterized the 2004 North American monsoon. The study utilized data from the 2875-MHz profiler stationed near Sinaloa, Mexico from early July through mid-September of 2004 for the North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME). The profiler observed 23 rain events. Climatologic frequency distributions of reflectivity, Doppler velocity, and spectral width were created for various precipitation regimes. The NAME distributions compared favorably with results from previous studies. Stratiform precipitation exhibited a radar bright band and a strong Doppler velocity gradient in the melting layer, and weak spectral width above the melting layer. Mixed stratiform/convective regions contained low reflectivity and a weak bright band. Convective profiles contained high reflectivity, large Doppler velocities, and high spectral width. Vertical air motions derived from the 2875-MHz profiler were compared with EVAD and 449-MHz profiler retrievals. The 2875-MHz pro filer vertical air motion estimates contained a negative bias to both methods of approximately 0.5 m s-1. Though the errors in the stratiform vertical air motion estimates were of the same order as the stratiform air motions, the NAME vertical air motion composites for stratiform and mixed stratiform/convective precipitation exhibited similar features to composites from previous studies. However, convective composites from past studies showed ascent throughout the troposphere while the NAME composite showed a significant region of descent between 4 and 6 km. This discrepancy cannot be fully explained by the negative bias of 0.5 m s-1 in the NAME estimates. Climatologic vertical profiles of precipitating clouds were successfully created from the 2875-MHz pro filer NAME dataset for various precipitation regimes. While the vertical air motion estimates yielded unexpected values in the melting layer of convective precipitation, they proved useful in analyzing the vertical structure of vertical air motion for various precipitation regimes in a mean sense as well as assessing general updraft and downdraft intensity in individual convective cells.
dc.format.mediumreports
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10217/69278
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relationCatalog record number (MMS ID): 991023632829703361
dc.relationQC939.M7.L473 2006
dc.relation.ispartofAtmospheric Science Papers (Blue Books)
dc.relation.ispartofAtmospheric science paper, no. 780
dc.relation.isversionofLerach, David Gregory, Vertical Structure and Kinematics of Tropical Monsoon Precipitation Observed from a 2875-Mhz Profiler During NAME. (Unpublished thesis (M.S.)). Colorado State University, 2006.
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subject.lcshMonsoons -- Tropics
dc.subject.lcshRain and rainfall -- Tropics
dc.titleVertical structure and kinematics of tropical monsoon precipitation observed from a 2875-MHz profiler during NAME
dc.typeText
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Vertical structure and kinematics of tropical monsoon precipitation observed from a 2875-MHz profiler during NAME