A global climatology of extreme rainfall rates in the inner core of intense tropical cyclones |
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| Authors: | Ian Chang Mace L. Bentley J. Marshall Shepherd |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL, USA;2. Geographic Science Program, Department of Integrated Science &3. Technology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA;4. Atmospheric Sciences Program, Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA |
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| Abstract: | The localized rain rate maxima (RM) of the inner core region of intense tropical cyclones (TCs) are investigated using Version 6 of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis data-set from 1998 to 2010. Specifically, this study examines the probabilities of RM exceeding 25 mm h?1 (P25) in intense TCs. The 25 mm h?1 RM is the 90th percentile of all RM observations during the study period. The descending order of P25 observed from intense TCs for the six major ocean basins is: the North Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Northwest Pacific Ocean, the South Pacific Ocean, the South Indian Ocean, and the East-central Pacific Ocean. The six major basins have been subdivided into 29 sub-basins to discern regional variability of RM. P25 increases with increasing TC category in all major basins, except for the South Pacific. Sub-basins with intense TCs that produce extreme rainfall rate maxima include the Bay of Bengal, the South Philippine Sea, the East China Sea, the north coast of Australia, southeast Melanesia, and the Northwest Atlantic. Sub-basins with a higher proportion of category 5 (CAT5) observations than category 3 (CAT3) observations tend to have a greater P25 beyond 60 km from the storm center. |
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| Keywords: | climatology Ocean/atmosphere interactions precipitation remote sensing tropical cyclones |
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