TY - JOUR
T1 - Aerosol-induced changes in the vertical structure of precipitation
T2 - a perspective of TRMM precipitation radar
AU - Guo, Jianping
AU - Liu, Huan
AU - Li, Zhanqing
AU - Rosenfeld, Daniel
AU - Jiang, Mengjiao
AU - Xu, Weixin
AU - Jiang, Jonathan H.
AU - He, Jing
AU - Chen, Dandan
AU - Min, Min
AU - Zhai, Panmao
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) 2018.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - This study investigates aerosol effects on precipitation over the Pearl River Delta region of China using six years of ground-based PM10 and satellite-based (TRMM) precipitation data. In general, rain rate tends to be lower under polluted conditions than under clean conditions. Radar reflectivity of the top 1% increases as the atmosphere becomes slightly polluted (PM10<38 µg/m3), except for shallow convection. The aerosol-precipitation data pairs are further limited to local- or meso-scale precipitation systems. Results show that significant changes in precipitation vertical structure are possibly induced by aerosol, and this potential aerosol effect is regime dependent. The 30 dBZ radar echo top height is elevated by 18.7% (2.7%) for convective (stratiform) precipitation under severe polluted conditions (PM10>83 µg/m3) compared to clean conditions (PM10<31 µg/m3), indicative of a possible aerosol invigoration effect. In contrast, the 30 dBZ radar echo top height of shallow convection are almost identical between pristine and polluted conditions. Impacts of meteorological factors are further studied on both echo top and reflectivity center of gravity, including vertical velocity, vertical wind shear, convection available potential energy, and vertically integrated moisture flux divergence. The possible invigoration effect on convective precipitation seems dependent on wind shear, in good agreement with previous simulations. Overall, the observed dependence of precipitation vertical structure on ground-based PM10 supports the aerosol invigoration hypothesis and adds a new insight into the nature of the complex interactions between aerosol and various precipitation regimes.
AB - This study investigates aerosol effects on precipitation over the Pearl River Delta region of China using six years of ground-based PM10 and satellite-based (TRMM) precipitation data. In general, rain rate tends to be lower under polluted conditions than under clean conditions. Radar reflectivity of the top 1% increases as the atmosphere becomes slightly polluted (PM10<38 µg/m3), except for shallow convection. The aerosol-precipitation data pairs are further limited to local- or meso-scale precipitation systems. Results show that significant changes in precipitation vertical structure are possibly induced by aerosol, and this potential aerosol effect is regime dependent. The 30 dBZ radar echo top height is elevated by 18.7% (2.7%) for convective (stratiform) precipitation under severe polluted conditions (PM10>83 µg/m3) compared to clean conditions (PM10<31 µg/m3), indicative of a possible aerosol invigoration effect. In contrast, the 30 dBZ radar echo top height of shallow convection are almost identical between pristine and polluted conditions. Impacts of meteorological factors are further studied on both echo top and reflectivity center of gravity, including vertical velocity, vertical wind shear, convection available potential energy, and vertically integrated moisture flux divergence. The possible invigoration effect on convective precipitation seems dependent on wind shear, in good agreement with previous simulations. Overall, the observed dependence of precipitation vertical structure on ground-based PM10 supports the aerosol invigoration hypothesis and adds a new insight into the nature of the complex interactions between aerosol and various precipitation regimes.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85200338221&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5194/ACP-2018-366
DO - 10.5194/ACP-2018-366
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AN - SCOPUS:85200338221
SN - 1680-7316
VL - 18
JO - Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
JF - Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
IS - 18
ER -