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contributor authorYuan, Jian
contributor authorHouze, Robert A.
date accessioned2017-06-09T16:35:49Z
date available2017-06-09T16:35:49Z
date copyright2010/11/01
date issued2010
identifier issn0894-8755
identifier otherams-70644.pdf
identifier urihttp://onlinelibrary.yabesh.ir/handle/yetl/4212448
description abstractMesoscale convective systems (MCSs) in the tropics produce extensive anvil clouds, which significantly affect the transfer of radiation. This study develops an objective method to identify MCSs and their anvils by combining data from three A-train satellite instruments: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for cloud-top size and coldness, Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) for rain area size and intensity, and CloudSat for horizontal and vertical dimensions of anvils. The authors distinguish three types of MCSs: small and large separated MCSs and connected MCSs. The latter are MCSs sharing a contiguous rain area. Mapping of the objectively identified MCSs shows patterns of MCSs that are consistent with previous studies of tropical convection, with separated MCSs dominant over Africa and the Amazon regions and connected MCSs favored over the warm pool of the Indian and west Pacific Oceans. By separating the anvil from the raining regions of MCSs, this study leads to quantitative global maps of anvil coverage. These maps are consistent with the MCS analysis, and they lay the foundation for estimating the global radiative effects of anvil clouds. CloudSat radar data show that the modal thickness of MCS anvils is ?4?5 km. Anvils are mostly confined to within 1.5?2 times the equivalent radii of the primary rain areas of the MCSs. Over the warm pool, they may extend out to ?5 times the rain area radii. The warm ocean MCSs tend to have thicker nonraining and lightly raining anvils near the edges of their actively raining regions, indicating that anvils are generated in and spread out from the primary raining regions of the MCSs. Thicker anvils are nearly absent over continental regions.
publisherAmerican Meteorological Society
titleGlobal Variability of Mesoscale Convective System Anvil Structure from A-Train Satellite Data
typeJournal Paper
journal volume23
journal issue21
journal titleJournal of Climate
identifier doi10.1175/2010JCLI3671.1
journal fristpage5864
journal lastpage5888
treeJournal of Climate:;2010:;volume( 023 ):;issue: 021
contenttypeFulltext


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