Meso‐ and microscale response to variation in cloudiness at three forested sites in the Maritime Continent

Abstract

AbstractThis study examines the relationships between the diurnal precipitation cycle, local morning insolation, and local and large‐scale moisture availability using local radiative flux and precipitation observations from three forested tropical sites, together with ERA5 reanalysis data. Our results suggest that, away from the coast, there is a weak positive correlation between local morning insolation and the magnitude of the afternoon precipitation peak, and a weak negative relationship between locally observed surface moisture in the morning and the magnitude of the afternoon precipitation peak. There is little relationship between large‐scale column moisture and the local afternoon precipitation peak. We examine analogous results in convection‐permitting simulations. Results suggest that the simulated afternoon precipitation rate shows almost no dependence on surface radiative forcing or moisture availability, while the observed afternoon precipitation rate is dominated by radiative forcing. Simulated and observed satellite precipitation and cloud estimates for a single case study suggest a diversity of surface‐flux–precipitation relationships amongst model configurations.