Residual Diagnosis of Diabatic Heating from ERA-40 and NCEP Reanalyses: Intercomparisons with TRMM

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 414-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven C. Chan ◽  
Sumant Nigam
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Diabatic Heating ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Latent Heating ◽  
Maritime Continent ◽  
Precipitation Estimates ◽  
Trmm Precipitation ◽  
Heating Profiles ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Heating Profile

Abstract Diabatic heating is diagnosed from the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) circulation as a residue in the thermodynamic equation. The heating distribution is compared with the heating structure diagnosed from NCEP and 15-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-15) circulation and latent heating generated from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) observations using the convective–stratiform heating (CSH) algorithm. The ERA-40 residual heating in the tropics is found to be stronger than NCEP’s (and ERA-15), especially in July when its zonal–vertical average is twice as large. The bias is strongest over the Maritime Continent in January and over the eastern basins and Africa in July. Comparisons with precipitation indicate ERA-40 heating to be much more realistic over the eastern Pacific but excessive over the Maritime Continent, by at least 20% in January. Intercomparison of precipitation estimates from heating-profile integrals and station and satellite analyses reveals the TRMM CSH latent heating to be chronically weak by as much as a factor of 2! It is the low-side outlier among nine precipitation estimates in three of the four analyzed regions. No less worrisome is the inconsistency between the integral of the CSH latent heating profile in the tropics and the TRMM precipitation retrievals constraining the CSH algorithm (e.g., the 3A25 analysis). Confronting TRMM’s diagnosis of latent heating from local rainfall retrievals and local cumulus-model heating profiles with heating based on the large-scale assimilated circulation is a defining attribute of this study.

Estimates of Tropical Diabatic Heating Profiles: Commonalities and Uncertainties

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 542-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samson Hagos ◽  
Chidong Zhang ◽  
Wei-Kuo Tao ◽  
Steve Lang ◽  
Yukari N. Takayabu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Diabatic Heating ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Upper Troposphere ◽  
Tropical Oceans ◽  
Field Campaigns ◽  
Heating Profiles ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Rain Rates

Abstract This study aims to evaluate the consistency and discrepancies in estimates of diabatic heating profiles associated with precipitation based on satellite observations and microphysics and those derived from the thermodynamics of the large-scale environment. It presents a survey of diabatic heating profile estimates from four Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) products, four global reanalyses, and in situ sounding measurements from eight field campaigns at various tropical locations. Common in most of the estimates are the following: (i) bottom-heavy profiles, ubiquitous over the oceans, are associated with relatively low rain rates, while top-heavy profiles are generally associated with high rain rates; (ii) temporal variability of latent heating profiles is dominated by two modes, a deep mode with a peak in the upper troposphere and a shallow mode with a low-level peak; and (iii) the structure of the deep modes is almost the same in different estimates and different regions in the tropics. The primary uncertainty is in the amount of shallow heating over the tropical oceans, which differs substantially among the estimates.

scholarly journals Detecting and Tracking Coastal Precipitation in the Tropics: Methods and Insights into Multiscale Variability of Tropical Precipitation

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (15) ◽  
pp. 6689-6705
Author(s):  
David Coppin ◽  
Gilles Bellon ◽  
Alexander Pletzer ◽  
Chris Scott
Keyword(s):  
Diurnal Cycle ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Madden Julian Oscillation ◽  
Maritime Continent ◽  
Total Rainfall ◽  
Tropical Precipitation ◽  
Precipitation Estimates ◽  
Summer Hemisphere ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Climate Prediction Center

AbstractWe propose an algorithm to detect and track coastal precipitation systems and we apply it to 18 years of the high-resolution (8 km and 30 min) Climate Prediction Center CMORPH precipitation estimates in the tropics. Coastal precipitation in the Maritime Continent and Central America contributes to up to 80% of the total rainfall. It also contributes strongly to the diurnal cycle over land with the largest contribution from systems lasting between 6 and 12 h and contributions from longer-lived systems peaking later in the day. While the diurnal cycle of coastal precipitation is more intense over land in the summer hemisphere, its timing is independent of seasons over both land and ocean because the relative contributions from systems of different lifespans are insensitive to the seasonal cycle. We investigate the hypothesis that coastal precipitation is enhanced prior to the arrival of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) envelope over the Maritime Continent. Our results support this hypothesis and show that, when considering only coastal precipitation, the diurnal cycle appears reinforced even earlier over islands than previously reported. We discuss the respective roles of coastal and large-scale precipitation in the propagation of the MJO over the Maritime Continent. We also document a shift in diurnal cycle with the phases of the MJO, which results from changes in the relative contributions of short-lived versus long-lived coastal systems.

Retrieval of Latent Heating from TRMM Measurements

2006 ◽  
Vol 87 (11) ◽  
pp. 1555-1572 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.-K. Tao ◽  
E. A. Smith ◽  
R. F. Adler ◽  
Z. S. Haddad ◽  
A. Y. Hou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latent Heat ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Phase Changes ◽  
Latent Heating ◽  
Middle Latitudes ◽  
Rate Profile ◽  
The Tropics

Rainfall is a fundamental process within the Earth's hydrological cycle because it represents a principal forcing term in surface water budgets, while its energetics corollary, latent heating, is the principal source of atmospheric diabatic heating well into the middle latitudes. Latent heat production itself is a consequence of phase changes between the vapor, liquid, and frozen states of water. The properties of the vertical distribution of latent heat release modulate large-scale meridional and zonal circulations within the Tropics, as well as modify the energetic efficiencies of midlatitude weather systems. This paper highlights the retrieval of latent heating from satellite measurements generated by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite observatory, which was launched in November 1997 as a joint American–Japanese space endeavor. Since then, TRMM measurements have been providing credible four-dimensional accounts of rainfall over the global Tropics and subtropics, information that can be used to estimate the space–time structure of latent heating across the Earth's low latitudes. A set of algorithm methodologies for estimating latent heating based on precipitation-rate profile retrievals obtained from TRMM measurements has been under continuous development since the advent of the mission s research program. These algorithms are briefly described, followed by a discussion of the latent heating products that they generate. The paper then provides an overview of how TRMM-derived latent heating information is currently being used in conjunction with global weather and climate models, concluding with remarks intended to stimulate further research on latent heating retrieval from satellites.

scholarly journals Bi-modal Structure and Variability of Large-Scale Diabatic Heating in the Tropics

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (12) ◽  
pp. 3621-3640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chidong Zhang ◽  
Samson M. Hagos
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Diabatic Heating ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Surface Wind ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Balanced Model ◽  
Heating Profiles ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function

Abstract Tropical diabatic heating profiles estimated using sounding data from eight field campaigns were diagnosed to document their common and prevailing structure and variability that are relevant to the large-scale circulation. The first two modes of a rotated empirical orthogonal function analysis—one deep, one shallow—explain 85% of the total variance of all data combined. These two modes were used to describe the heating evolution, which led to three composited heating profiles that are considered as prevailing large-scale heating structures. They are, respectively, shallow, bottom heavy (peak near 700 hPa); deep, middle heavy (peak near 400 hPa); and stratiform-like, top heavy (heating peak near 400 hPa and cooling peak near 700 hPa). The amplitudes and occurrence frequencies of the shallow, bottom-heavy heating profiles are comparable to those of the stratiform-like, top-heavy ones. The sequence of the most probable heating evolution is deep tropospheric cooling to bottom-heavy heating, to middle heavy heating, to stratiform-like heating, then back to deep tropospheric cooling. This heating transition appears to occur on different time scales. Each of the prevailing heating structures is interpreted as being composed of particular fractional populations of various types of precipitating cloud systems, which are viewed as the building blocks for the mean. A linear balanced model forced by the three prevailing heating profiles produces rich vertical structures in the circulation with multiple overturning cells, whose corresponding moisture convergence and surface wind fields are very sensitive to the heating structures.

scholarly journals Shallow and Deep Latent Heating Modes over Tropical Oceans Observed with TRMM PR Spectral Latent Heating Data

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 2030-2046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukari N. Takayabu ◽  
Shoichi Shige ◽  
Wei-Kuo Tao ◽  
Nagio Hirota
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Radiative Heating ◽  
Latent Heating ◽  
Tropical Oceans ◽  
Trmm Precipitation ◽  
Subtropical Oceans ◽  
Cumulus Congestus

Abstract Three-dimensional distributions of the apparent heat source (Q1) − radiative heating (QR) estimated from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) utilizing the spectral latent heating (SLH) algorithm are analyzed. Mass-weighted and vertically integrated Q1 − QR averaged over the tropical oceans is estimated as ∼72.6 J s−1 (∼2.51 mm day−1) and that over tropical land is ∼73.7 J s−1 (∼2.55 mm day−1) for 30°N–30°S. It is shown that nondrizzle precipitation over tropical and subtropical oceans consists of two dominant modes of rainfall systems: deep systems and congestus. A rough estimate of the shallow-heating contribution against the total heating is about 46.7% for the average tropical oceans, which is substantially larger than the 23.7% over tropical land. Although cumulus congestus heating linearly correlates with SST, deep-mode heating is dynamically bounded by large-scale subsidence. It is notable that a substantial amount of rain, as large as 2.38 mm day−1 on average, is brought from congestus clouds under the large-scale subsiding circulation. It is also notable that, even in the region with SSTs warmer than 28°C, large-scale subsidence effectively suppresses the deep convection, with the remaining heating by congestus clouds. The results support that the entrainment of mid–lower-tropospheric dry air, which accompanies the large-scale subsidence, is the major factor suppressing the deep convection. Therefore, a representation of the realistic entrainment is very important for proper reproduction of precipitation distribution and the resultant large-scale circulation.

scholarly journals Spectral Retrieval of Latent Heating Profiles from TRMM PR Data. Part III: Estimating Apparent Moisture Sink Profiles over Tropical Oceans

2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 620-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoichi Shige ◽  
Yukari N. Takayabu ◽  
Wei-Kuo Tao
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽  
Latent Heating ◽  
Tropical Ocean ◽  
Tropical Oceans ◽  
Cloud Resolving Model ◽  
Trmm Precipitation ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Heating Profiles ◽  
The Western Pacific ◽  
Good Agreement

Abstract The spectral latent heating (SLH) algorithm was developed to estimate apparent heat source (Q1) profiles for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation radar (PR) in Parts I and II of this study. In this paper, the SLH algorithm is used to estimate apparent moisture sink (Q2) profiles. The procedure of Q2 retrieval is the same as that of heating retrieval except for using the Q2 profile lookup tables derived from numerical simulations of tropical cloud systems from the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) utilizing a cloud-resolving model (CRM). The Q2 profiles were reconstructed from CRM-simulated parameters with the COARE table and then compared with CRM-simulated “true” Q2 profiles, which were computed directly from the water vapor equation in the model. The consistency check indicates that discrepancies between the SLH-reconstructed and CRM-simulated profiles for Q2, especially at low levels, are larger than those for Q1 and are attributable to moistening for the nonprecipitating region that SLH cannot reconstruct. Nevertheless, the SLH-reconstructed total Q2 profiles are in good agreement with the CRM-simulated ones. The SLH algorithm was applied to PR data, and the results were compared with Q2 profiles derived from the budget study. Although discrepancies between the SLH-retrieved and sounding-based profiles for Q2 for the South China Sea Monsoon Experiment (SCSMEX) are larger than those for heating, key features of the vertical profiles agree well. The SLH algorithm can also estimate differences of Q2 between the western Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, consistent with the results from the budget study.

scholarly journals Building Blocks of Tropical Diabatic Heating

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (7) ◽  
pp. 2341-2354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samson Hagos
Keyword(s):  
Exponential Decay ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Diabatic Heating ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Convective Heating ◽  
Field Campaigns ◽  
Heating Profiles ◽  
Heating Profile

Abstract Rotated EOF analyses are used to study the composition and variability of large-scale tropical diabatic heating profiles estimated from eight field campaigns. The results show that the profiles are composed of a pair of building blocks. These are the stratiform heating with peak heating near 400 hPa and a cooling peak near 700 hPa and the convective heating with a heating maximum near 700 hPa. Variations in the contributions of these building blocks account for the evolution of the large-scale heating profile. Instantaneous top-heavy (bottom-heavy) large-scale heating profiles associated with excess of stratiform (convective) heating evolve toward a stationary mean profile due to exponential decay of the excess stratiform (convective) heating.

scholarly journals Diabatic Heating Profiles in Recent Global Reanalyses

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 3307-3325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Ling ◽  
Chidong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Diabatic Heating ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Cumulus Parameterization ◽  
Precipitation Process ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Hydrological Cycles ◽  
Heating Profiles ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Modern Era

Abstract Diabatic heating profiles are extremely important to the atmospheric circulation in the tropics and therefore to the earth’s energy and hydrological cycles. However, their global structures are poorly known because of limited information from in situ observations. Some modern global reanalyses provide the temperature tendency from the physical processes. Their proper applications require an assessment of their accuracy and uncertainties. In this study, diabatic heating profiles from three recent global reanalyses [ECMWF Interim Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim), Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), and Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA)] are compared to those derived from currently available sounding observations in the tropics and to each other in the absence of the observations. Diabatic heating profiles produced by the reanalyses match well with those based on sounding observations only at some locations. The three reanalyses agree with each other better in the extratropics, where large-scale condensation dominates the precipitation process in data assimilation models, than in the tropics, where cumulus parameterization dominates. In the tropics, they only agree with each other in gross features, such as the contrast between the ITCZs over different oceans. Their largest disagreement is the number and level of heating peaks in the tropics. They may produce a single, double, or triple heating peak at a given location. It is argued that cumulus parameterization cannot be the sole source of the disagreement. Implications of such disagreement are discussed.

scholarly journals Heating Structures of the TRMM Field Campaigns

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (7) ◽  
pp. 2593-2610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney Schumacher ◽  
Minghua H. Zhang ◽  
Paul E. Ciesielski
Keyword(s):  
South China Sea ◽  
South China ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vertical Structure ◽  
Diabatic Heating ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Field Campaigns ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Heating Profiles ◽  
Heating Profile

Abstract Heating profiles calculated from sounding networks and other observations during three Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) field campaigns [the Kwajalein Experiment (KWAJEX), TRMM Large-Scale Biosphere–Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA), and South China Sea Monsoon Experiment (SCSMEX)] show distinct geographical differences between oceanic, continental, and monsoon regimes. Differing cloud types (both precipitating and nonprecipitating) play an important role in determining the total diabatic heating profile. Variations in the vertical structure of the apparent heat source, Q1, can be related to the diurnal cycle, large-scale forcings such as atmospheric waves, and rain thresholds at each location. For example, TRMM-LBA, which occurred in the Brazilian Amazon, had mostly deep convection during the day while KWAJEX, which occurred in the western portion of the Pacific intertropical convergence zone, had more shallow and moderately deep daytime convection. Therefore, the afternoon height of maximum heating was more bottom heavy (i.e., heating below 600 hPa) during KWAJEX compared to TRMM-LBA. More organized convective systems with extensive stratiform rain areas and upper-level cloud decks tended to occur in the early and late morning hours during TRMM-LBA and KWAJEX, respectively, thereby causing Q1 profiles to be top heavy (i.e., maxima from 600 to 400 hPa) at those times. SCSMEX, which occurred in the South China Sea during the monsoon season, had top-heavy daytime and nighttime heating profiles suggesting that mesoscale convective systems occurred throughout the diurnal cycle, although more precipitation and upper-level cloud in the afternoon caused the daytime heating maximum to be larger. A tendency toward bottom- and top-heavy heating profile variations is also associated with the different cloud types that occurred before and after the passage of easterly wave troughs during KWAJEX, the easterly and westerly regimes during TRMM-LBA, and the monsoon onset and postonset active periods during SCSMEX. Rain thresholds based on heavy, moderate, and light/no-rain amounts can further differentiate top-heavy heating, bottom-heavy heating, and tropospheric cooling. These budget studies suggest that model calculations and satellite retrievals of Q1 must account for a large number of factors in order to accurately determine the vertical structure of diabatic heating associated with tropical cloud systems.

scholarly journals Mesoscale Variation in Diabatic Heating around Sumatra, and Its Modulation with the Madden–Julian Oscillation

2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (8) ◽  
pp. 2599-2614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire L. Vincent ◽  
Todd P. Lane
Keyword(s):  
Diabatic Heating ◽  
Intraseasonal Variability ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
Sea Breeze ◽  
Convective Heating ◽  
Latent Heating ◽  
Precipitation Radar ◽  
Maritime Continent ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Trmm Precipitation

Abstract Diabatic heating in the Maritime Continent region is controlled by a unique blend of mesoscale variability associated with steep topography and complex coastlines and intraseasonal variability associated with propagating planetary-scale disturbances. In this study, the diabatic heating from a 10-yr austral summer simulation over the Maritime Continent with a 4-km horizontal grid length is analyzed with respect to diurnal, spatial, and intraseasonal variations. Results are compared, where possible, to analogous estimates from the TRMM precipitation radar. We show that the heating budget is largely a balance between latent heating and vertical advection, with rays of heating and cooling extending upward and outward from the coast evident in the advection terms, consistent with the gravity wave representation of the tropical sea breeze. By classifying rainfall into convective and stratiform components, it is shown that simulated convective heating over Sumatra peaks in MJO phases 2 and 3, while simulated stratiform heating peaks in phase 4. Similarly, spectral latent heating estimates from the TRMM Precipitation Radar show that stratiform heating peaks in phases 3 and 4, while convective heating peaks in phases 2 and 3. It is also shown that stratiform precipitation plays a greater role in offshore precipitation during the night, albeit with embedded convective cores, than over the land during the day. These results emphasize the importance of achieving a realistic representation of convective and stratiform processes in high-resolution simulations in the tropics, both for total rainfall estimates and for realistic latent heating.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document