Retrieval of convective available potential energy from INSAT-3D measurements: comparison with radiosonde data and their spatial–temporal variations

Uriya Veerendra Murali Krishna,Kizhathur Narasimhan Uma,Govindan Pandithurai,Subrata Kumar Das

doi:10.5194/amt-12-777-2019

Uriya Veerendra Murali Krishna, Kizhathur Narasimhan Uma + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-777-2019

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Abstract

Abstract. Convective available potential energy (CAPE) is a measure of the amount of energy available for convection in the atmosphere. The satellite-derived data over the ocean and land are used for a better understanding of the atmospheric stability indices. In this work, an attempt is made for the first time to estimate CAPE from high spatial and temporal resolution measurements of the INSAT-3D over the Indian region. The estimated CAPE from the INSAT-3D is comprehensively evaluated using radiosonde derived CAPE and ERA-Interim CAPE. The evaluation shows that the INSAT-3D CAPE reasonably correlated with the radiosonde derived CAPE; however, the magnitude of CAPE shows higher values. Further, the distribution of CAPE is studied for different instability conditions (different range of CAPE values) during different seasons over the Indian region. In addition, the diurnal and seasonal variability in CAPE is also investigated at different geographical locations to understand the spatial variability with respect to different terrains.

Highlights

Convective available potential energy (CAPE; Moncrieff and Miller, 1976) is a measure of convective potential in the atmosphere that incorporates the instability and moisture ingredients (Johns and Doswell, 1992)
For the ERA-Interim data, INSAT-3D CAPE shows a lower correlation coefficient for all the stations except Amini Divi compared to radiosonde CAPE
The ERA-Interim CAPE shows a higher correlation for Minicoy and the correlation is minimum for Delhi

Summary

Introduction

Convective available potential energy (CAPE; Moncrieff and Miller, 1976) is a measure of convective potential in the atmosphere that incorporates the instability and moisture ingredients (Johns and Doswell, 1992). Variability in CAPE can affect the temperature field in the upper troposphere (Gaffen et al, 1991; Dhaka et al, 2010). Dhaka et al (2010) studied the relationship between seasonal, annual, and large-scale variations in CAPE and the solar cycle on the temperature at 100 hPa pressure level using daily radiosonde data for the period 1980–2006 over the Indian region. They showed that the increase in CAPE was associated with the decrease in temperature at 100 hPa pressure level on all time scales

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