Convective and stratiform rainfall and heating associated with the summer monsoon over the South China Sea based on TRMM data

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the features of the convective and stratiform rainfall and latent heating associated with the summer monsoon over the South China Sea using TRMM data. Our findings are as follows. (1) Latent heating generated by the convective and stratiform heating algorithm (CSH), as well as convective and stratiform rainfall from satellite data can characterize the seasonal march of the South China Sea summer monsoon very well; (2) Analyses of both the CSH algorithm-estimated heating and convective/stratiform rainfall suggest that there is a burst in latent heat and convection over the South China Sea before the onset of its summer monsoon; (3) The annual variations of rainfall and heating over the South China Sea exhibit different features depending on El Nino or La Nina conditions. The latent heating over the South China Sea is much smaller during El Nino years than during La Nina years. Moreover, the latent heating increases very rapidly in March–April during La Nina years, but it does not increase much during El Nino years until the onset of the South China Sea summer monsoon in May.