TRMM Application on Tropical Rainfall Diurnal Cycle

Rainfall and its variability are not only important constituents of the global hydrological cycle, but also influence the course of development of all living organisms on our planet. Particularly over tropical regions, given the socioeconomic condition of many countries, people critically depend on the annual precipitation and its variability. Rainfall diurnal cycle is fundamental to many regional climates.Because of the limited observations and it is result from complex interactions between dynamic and radiative forcings, what is the diurnal cycle of tropical rainfall and how does it vary in space are still remaining challenge on a non-sun-synchronous orbit, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) has made it possible to monitor tropical rainfall diurnal patterns and their intensities.

Numerous scientists have studied the diurnal variation of rainfall over the tropical land and ocean using TRMM satellite measurements. In this page, we exhibit examples of the TRMM application on rainfall diurnal cycle and provide a reference list for TRMM rainfall diurnal cycle related publications.

L. Chiu and A. Chang

Diurnal cycle of precipitation over the global tropics derived from the TRMM Combined Instrument algorithm (2B31).The pixel data are binned into geographic local time 3 hourly 1x1 degree boxes.There is a nocturnal to early morning maximum over the oceanic rain belts.Rainfall maximum over the continents occurs in early afternoon.The drastic shift of the maximum rainfall over the Maritime Continent from early morning in the coast to late afternoon in land suggests a strong coupling in land-air-sea interactions.

Sorooshian, S., Gao, X., Hsu, K., Maddox, R. A., Hong, Y., Gupta, H. V., Imam, B. 2002: Diurnal Variability of Tropical Rainfall Retrieved from Combined GOES and TRMM Satellite Information. Journal of Climate: Vol. 15, No. 9, pp. 983-1001.

Negri, Andrew J., Bell, Thomas L., Xu, Liming. 2002: Sampling of the Diurnal Cycle of Precipitation Using TRMM. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology: Vol. 19, No. 9, pp. 1333-1344.

Imaoka, Keiji, Spencer, Roy W. 2000: Diurnal Variation of Precipitation over the Tropical Oceans Observed by TRMM/TMI Combined with SSM/I. Journal of Climate: Vol. 13, No. 23, pp. 4149-4158.

Kishtawal, C. M., Krishnamurti, T. N.. 2001: Diurnal Variation of Summer Rainfall over Taiwan and Its Detection Using TRMM Observations. Journal of Applied Meteorology: Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 331-344.

Nesbitt, Stephen W., Zipser, Edward J. 2003: The Diurnal Cycle of Rainfall and Convective Intensity according to Three Years of TRMM Measurements. Journal of Climate: Vol. 16, No. 10, pp. 1456-1475.

L. A. T. Machado, H. Laurent, A. A. Lima, Diurnal march of the convection observed during TRMM-WETAMC/LBA, Journal of Geophysical Research, VOL. 107, NO. D20, 8064, doi:10.1029/2001JD000338, 2002

Y. N. Takayabu, Spectral representation of rain profiles and diurnal variations observed with TRMM PR over the equatorial area, Geophysical Research Letters, VOL. 29, NO. 12, 10.1029-2001GL014113, 2002