Abstract
Abstract. Temporal variations of precipitating clouds in equatorial Indonesia have been studied based on observations with 1357.5 MHz boundary layer radars at Serpong (6.4° S, 106.7° E) near Jakarta and Bukittinggi (0.2° S, 100.3° E) in West Sumatera. We have classified precipitating clouds into four types: stratiform, mixed stratiform-convective, deep convective, and shallow convective clouds, using the Williams et al. (1995) method. Diurnal variations of the occurrence of precipitating clouds at Serpong and Bukittinggi have showed the same characteristics, namely, that the precipitating clouds primarily occur in the afternoon and the peak of the stratiform cloud comes after the peak of the deep convective cloud. The time delay between the peaks of stratiform and deep convective clouds corresponds to the life cycle of the mesoscale convective system. The precipitating clouds which occur in the early morning at Serpong are dominated by stratiform cloud. Concerning seasonal variations of the precipitating clouds, we have found that the occurrence of the stratiform cloud is most frequent in the rainy season, while the occurrence of the deep convective cloud is predominant in the dry season.Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (convective processes; precipitation; tropical meteorology)
Highlights
The occurrence of deep convection in the tropics plays an important role in the global circulation, since it transports heat, water vapor and so on from the atmospheric boundary layer to the upper troposphere
Since the vertical distribution of diabatic heating depends on the vertical structure of the convective system, it is important to study the vertical structure of the precipitating clouds occurring in the tropics
It is pointed out by Murakami and Sumi (1982) that the winter monsoon is centered over Indonesia, while deep convection and heavy rainfall occur throughout this region within this period
Summary
The occurrence of deep convection in the tropics plays an important role in the global circulation, since it transports heat, water vapor and so on from the atmospheric boundary layer to the upper troposphere. In ‘Maritime Continent Indonesia’, which is surrounded by the warmest sea water in the world, convective clouds are frequently generated It is pointed out by Murakami and Sumi (1982) that the winter monsoon is centered over Indonesia, while deep convection and heavy rainfall occur throughout this region within this period. Ecklund et al (1999) compared data from a 915 MHz wind profiler with a 3 GHz one in observing the precipitating clouds Most of these studies on precipitating clouds have been conducted over islands in the Pacific Ocean. A study of the occurrence of precipitating clouds over the maritime continent using 1357.5 MHz boundary layer radars (hereafter referred as to 1.3-GHz BLRs or BLRs) at Serpong (6.4◦ S, 106.7◦ E) and Bukittinggi (0.2◦ S, 100.3◦ E) will be discussed
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