Rainfall Characteristics and Convective Properties of Mei-Yu Precipitation Systems over South China, Taiwan, and the South China Sea. Part I: TRMM Observations

Abstract

Rainfall characteristics and mesoscale properties of precipitation systems in mei-yu seasons over South China, Taiwan, and the South China Sea (SCS) during 1998–2007 are investigated in this study. Mei-yu rainbands are defined using the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission 3B42 rainfall product and then applied to divide the mei-yu season into the mei-yu and break periods. In the 10-yr “climatology,” on average, the mei-yu rainbands have a lifetime of 4–5 days and most frequently occur near the South China coast. During the mei-yu periods, rainfall maxima are found over the Pearl River Delta, the foothills of the Yun-Gui Plateau, and Wuyi Mountain, with the first two maxima corresponding to especially heavy rainfall. Intraseasonal variations on the convective structures, especially over land, are distinct among the mei-yu, break, pre-mei-yu, and post-mei-yu, based on analysis of convection intensity proxies and vertical radar reflectivity profiles of precipitation features. Lightning flash rates are consistent with the convective structure. The most frequent lightning over South China and Taiwan is in the pre-mei-yu and the least is during the mei-yu, which suggests different microphysical structures. Therefore, the discrimination of intraseasonal transitions on convective vertical structures may have important implications to the problems of cumulus parameterization, model validation, rainfall estimation, and latent heat retrievals. Intraseasonal variations of convective structures over the SCS are less evident than those over land. Storms over the SCS during the mei-yu are slightly convectively stronger than those in the break. Oceanic features with strong ice scattering have much lower lightning flash rates than their counterparts over land.