Pre-monsoon convective events and thermodynamic features of southwest monsoon onset over Kerala, India – A case study

Abstract

The thermodynamic characteristics of the atmosphere during the pre-monsoon thunderstorm period and the transition phase from pre-monsoon to monsoon period over the gateway of Indian summer monsoon is investigated in this study. The study utilizes Stratosphere-Troposphere (ST) wind profiling Radar, Microwave Radiometer, and GPS radiosonde observations. A sharp increase in the boundary-layer and middle-layer moisture content, abrupt changes in the mixing height, lifting condensation level (LCL), convective available potential energy (CAPE), and other thermodynamic variables are noted. The pre-monsoon period is characterized by intermittent deep convection that moistens the middle layers, while stratiform clouds are observed in the monsoon period and deep moist layer is observed. The dry middle-layers observed before the monsoon onset got moistened consistently as the low-level jet strengthened. The LCL height was lower than the mixing height after the onset of monsoon. The wet-bulb zero level (WBZ) height was reduced to 2 km during the pre-monsoon and shifted gradually to higher altitudes as the onset of monsoon occurs. Variations in WBZ height may help in the predictability of monsoon onset. The study has also investigated the characteristics of a thunderstorm event before the onset and suitable indices for early indication of the storm.