Convective Cloud Regimes From a Classification of Object‐Based CloudSat Observations Over Asian‐Australian Monsoon Areas

Abstract

AbstractThe present study objectively classified the convective cloud objects detected by the space‐borne CloudSat radar over the Asian‐Australian monsoon region using the hierarchical agglomerative clustering algorithm. Based on key properties representing the morphological features and convective intensity of the systems, five distinct convective cloud regimes were derived. The unique Coastal‐Intense (CI) regime exhibits the most expansive horizontal scales (>1,000 km), high convective strength, the strongest cloud radiative effects, the highest probability of extreme rainfall, and a significant coupling with the sharp onset of the Asian summer monsoon circulation. Second, the Coastal regime illustrates smaller but also highly organized coastal convections, with the strongest convective strength. Less than 10% of the systems in the CI and Coastal regimes overlap with the tropical cyclones. The rest three regimes mark the less organized convection at various life cycle stages mainly over the land areas, with small seasonal variation in their occurrence.