A Comparison Of WSR-88D Reflectivities, SSM/I Brightness Temperatures, and Lightning for Mesoscale Convective Systems in Texas. Part I: Radar Reflectivity and Lightning

Toracinta, E. Richard; Mohr, Karen I.; Zipser, Edward J.; Orville, Richard E.

doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1996)035<0902:acowrs>2.0.co;2

Cited by 34 publications

(39 citation statements)

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“…3 of Zipser andLutz 1994 andFig. 17 of Toracinta andMohr 1996). Lower height convections (@10 km) were found to generate and develop continuously over the ocean during this period.…”

Section: Overview Of Observed Precipitation Systems and Case Selectionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Structure and Development of Two Merged Rainbands Observed over the East China Sea during X-BAIU-99 Part I: Meso-.BETA.-Scale Structure and Development Processes

Moteki

Uyeda

Maesaka

et al. 2004

Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan

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This paper is the first in a two-part series in which the multiscale structures and development of oceanic precipitation systems observed in the Baiu frontal region during a field experiment of X-BAIU-99 are investigated. The meso-b-scale structure, and development of two merged rainbands on 27 June 1999, were observed by dual Doppler radars over the eastern part of the East China Sea. A southern rainband called LINE1 formed in a southwesterly wind field associated with a weak convergence line in a layer of 1-2 km. A northern rainband called LINE2 formed along the Baiu front ahead of cold northwesterly winds. LINE2 moved southeastward and merged into the quasi-stationary LINE1. As the merging occurred, LINE1 developed rapidly resulting from an intensification of low-level convergence associated with the cold northwesterly winds in LINE2. The two merged rainbands were reproduced well by a 5 km-resolution non-hydrostatic model, and the thermodynamic and moisture structures of the circumstances of the rainbands before the merging were analyzed in detail. The weak convergence line of LINE1 in the southwesterly wind field had a large water vapor gradient in a layer of 0.5-1.5 km. This line with the large water vapor gradient distinct from the Baiu front is named a ''water vapor front'' in this study. The present meso-b-scale analyses showed that two distinct fronts without any land effects existed in the Baiu frontal region: the ''water vapor front'' (LINE1) and the Baiu front (LINE2). The rapid intensification of the rainfall in LINE1 was induced by a combination of a strong convergence in the Baiu front, and a large water vapor supply from the south in the ''water vapor front.''

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“…3 of Zipser andLutz 1994 andFig. 17 of Toracinta andMohr 1996). Lower height convections (@10 km) were found to generate and develop continuously over the ocean during this period.…”

Section: Overview Of Observed Precipitation Systems and Case Selectionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Structure and Development of Two Merged Rainbands Observed over the East China Sea during X-BAIU-99 Part I: Meso-.BETA.-Scale Structure and Development Processes

Moteki

Uyeda

Maesaka

et al. 2004

Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan

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“…Here, radar reflectivity greater than 40 dBZ is used as the lower threshold for defining the presence of a thunderstorm, similar to other studies (Reap 1986;Dye et al 1989;Reap and MacGorman 1989;Toracinta et al 1996;Tapia et al 1998;MacGorman et al 2008). A reflectivity threshold of greater than 40 dBZ is considered a reasonable criteria for convective activity (Livingston et al 1996) as it has been shown to discriminate between convective and stratiform rain (e.g., Rickenbach and Rutledge 1998;Parker and Knievel 2005).…”

Section: B Reflectivity and Lightning Climatologymentioning

confidence: 90%

Warm Season Afternoon Thunderstorm Characteristics under Weak Synoptic-Scale Forcing over Taiwan Island

Lin

Chang²,

Jou

et al. 2011

Weather and Forecasting

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The spatial and temporal characteristics and distributions of thunderstorms in Taiwan during the warm season (May-October) from 2005 to 2008 and under weak synoptic-scale forcing are documented using radar reflectivity, lightning, radiosonde, and surface data. Average hourly rainfall amounts peaked in midafternoon (1500-1600 local solar time, LST). The maximum frequency of rain was located in a narrow strip, parallel to the orientation of the mountains, along the lower slopes of the mountains. Significant diurnal variations were found in surface wind, temperature, and dewpoint temperature between days with and without afternoon thunderstorms (TS A and non-TS A days). Before thunderstorms occurred, on TS A days, the surface temperature was warmer (about 0.58-1.58C) and the surface dewpoint temperature was moister (about 0.58-28C) than on non-TS A days. Sounding observations from northern Taiwan also showed warmer and higher moisture conditions on TS A days relative to non-TS A days. The largest average difference was in the 750-550-hPa layer where the non-TS A days averaged 2.58-3.58C drier. These preconvective factors associated with the occurrences of afternoon thunderstorms could be integrated into nowcasting tools to enhance warning systems and decision-making capabilities in real-time operations.

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“…Observational studies have documented convective storms over the oceans that contain little or no lightning, but have rainfall rates similar to active thunderstorms over land (e.g., Wang 1963;Zipser 1970Takahashi 1978Takahashi , 1990Cram and Tatum 1979). Recently, satellite-based lightning and rainfall measurements have confirmed these observations (e.g., Nesbitt et al 2000;Toracinta et al 2002;Cecil et al 2005;Futyan and DelGenio 2007a). This discrepancy can be explained in part by the efficiency of the warm rain process in the maritime environment (Pruppacher and Klett 1978).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Vertical profiles of radar reflectivity have been found to be an important indicator of cloud electrification and lightning activity (e.g., Zipser and Lutz 1994;Petersen et al 1996;Toracinta et al 1996Toracinta et al , 2002Nesbitt et al 2000). Several studies have shown that the main thunderstorm charging mechanism is the ice-ice collision process, where the riming graupel particles collide with smaller ice particles in the presence of supercooled water (e.g., Saunders 1993).…”

Section: A Maximum Radar Reflectivity and Altitude Of The Echo Topmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships among Lightning, Precipitation, and Hydrometeor Characteristics over the North Pacific Ocean*

Pessi

Businger

2009

Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology

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Lightning data from the Pacific Lightning Detection Network (PacNet) and Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite were compared with TRMM precipitation radar products and latent heating and hydrometeor data. Three years of data over the central North Pacific Ocean were analyzed. The data were divided into winter (October-April) and summer (June-September) seasons. During the winter, the thunderstorms were typically embedded in cold fronts associated with eastward-propagating extratropical cyclones. Summer thunderstorms were triggered by cold upper-level lows associated with the tropical upper-tropospheric trough (TUTT). Concurrent lightning and satellite data associated with the storms were averaged over 0.58 3 0.58 grid cells and a detection efficiency correction model was applied to quantify the lightning rates. The results of the data analysis show a consistent logarithmic increase in convective rainfall rate with increasing lightning rates. Moreover, other storm characteristics such as radar reflectivity, storm height, ice water path, and latent heat show a similar logarithmic increase. Specifically, the reflectivity in the mixed-phase region increased significantly with lightning rate and the lapse rate of Z decreased; both of these features are well-known indicators of the robustness of the cloud electrification process. In addition, the height of the echo tops showed a strong logarithmic correlation with lightning rate. These results have application over data-sparse ocean regions by allowing lightning-rate data to be used as a proxy for related storm properties, which can be assimilated into NWP models.

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A Comparison Of WSR-88D Reflectivities, SSM/I Brightness Temperatures, and Lightning for Mesoscale Convective Systems in Texas. Part I: Radar Reflectivity and Lightning

Cited by 34 publications

References 0 publications

Structure and Development of Two Merged Rainbands Observed over the East China Sea during X-BAIU-99 Part I: Meso-.BETA.-Scale Structure and Development Processes

Structure and Development of Two Merged Rainbands Observed over the East China Sea during X-BAIU-99 Part I: Meso-.BETA.-Scale Structure and Development Processes

Warm Season Afternoon Thunderstorm Characteristics under Weak Synoptic-Scale Forcing over Taiwan Island

Relationships among Lightning, Precipitation, and Hydrometeor Characteristics over the North Pacific Ocean*

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