Abstract
Northeastern Region (NER) of India commonly experiences the occurrence of rigorous convective squalls, commonly known as Thunderstorms (TS) or Nor’westers through the months of March to May. This study utilizes satellite images of Kalpana-1 satellite in Thermal Infrared (TIR) and Water Vapor (WV) channels to identify TS genesis, frequency, and track over the NER. The results obtained have been compared with Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) reports to check the accuracy of satellite image interpretations. 81 TS were detected over NER of India with 38 in the month of April and 43 in the month of May. The duration of TS follows an exponential distribution with maximum TS having lifetime of an hour or less and a few having lifetime of about 8–9 h. The TS occurred almost during any time domain of a day with maximum number of them occurring between 16 and 20 UTC. Most of the systems were formed and dissipated over the NER, while some systems were formed over the northwestern parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal and moved toward the NER under the influence of the Nor’westers collecting moisture, maturing, and dissipating over the NER. The dominant wind was from the northwest during the season. The precipitation from these TS accounts for 20–25% of annual rainfall and is very important for the agrarian economy of this region. The interpreted TS was found to be lesser (67%) than the number of events reported by IMD reports primarily because of the limitations in spatial resolution of the sensor.
Published Version
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