Effects of time-dependent large-scale forcing, solar zenith angle, and sea surface temperature on time-mean rainfall: a partitioning analysis based on surface rainfall budget

Abstract

Effects of time-dependent large-scale forcing, solar zenith angle, and sea surface temperature on time-mean rainfall during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) are examined through a partitioning analysis of a series of sensitivity cloud-resolving model experiment data based on surface rainfall budget. The model is forced by time-dependent large-scale forcing (LSF), solar zenith angle (SZA), and sea surface temperature (SST) in the control experiment and is forced only by either time-dependent LSF, SZA, or SST while others are replaced with their time averages in the sensitivity experiments. The rainfall associated with water vapor divergence and local atmospheric drying and hydrometeor loss/convergence has the largest contribution to total rainfall among eight rainfall types. The largest rainfall contribution is increased in the simulations where either time-dependent LSF, SZA, or SST is replaced with its average, whereas it is decreased in the simulation where COARE-derived large-scale vertical velocity is replaced with zero vertical velocity. The contribution of the rainfall associated with water vapor convergence to total rainfall is decreased in the simulations with time-mean LSF, SZA, and SST, whereas it is increased in the simulation without large-scale vertical velocity.