Articles | Volume 21, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4741-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4741-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
26 Mar 2021
Research article |
| 26 Mar 2021
| 26 Mar 2021
Statistical characteristics of raindrop size distribution over the Western Ghats of India: wet versus dry spells of the Indian summer monsoon
Uriya Veerendra Murali Krishna
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pashan, Pune 411008, India
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pashan, Pune 411008, India
Ezhilarasi Govindaraj Sulochana
College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai 600025, India
Utsav Bhowmik
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pashan, Pune 411008, India
Sachin Madhukar Deshpande
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pashan, Pune 411008, India
Govindan Pandithurai
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pashan, Pune 411008, India
Related authors
No articles found.
Matthias Kohl, Jos Lelieveld, Sourangsu Chowdhury, Sebastian Ehrhart, Disha Sharma, Yafang Cheng, Sachchida Nand Tripathi, Mathew Sebastian, Govindan Pandithurai, Hongli Wang, and Andrea Pozzer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13191–13215, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13191-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13191-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Knowledge on atmospheric ultrafine particles (UFPs) with a diameter smaller than 100 nm is crucial for public health and the hydrological cycle. We present a new global dataset of UFP concentrations at the Earth's surface derived with a comprehensive chemistry–climate model and evaluated with ground-based observations. The evaluation results are combined with high-resolution primary emissions to downscale UFP concentrations to an unprecedented horizontal resolution of 0.1° × 0.1°.
Mathew Sebastian, Sobhan Kumar Kompalli, Vasudevan Anil Kumar, Sandhya Jose, S. Suresh Babu, Govindan Pandithurai, Sachchidanand Singh, Rakesh K. Hooda, Vijay K. Soni, Jeffrey R. Pierce, Ville Vakkari, Eija Asmi, Daniel M. Westervelt, Antti-Pekka Hyvärinen, and Vijay P. Kanawade
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4491–4508, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4491-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4491-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Characteristics of particle number size distributions and new particle formation in six locations in India were analyzed. New particle formation occurred frequently during the pre-monsoon (spring) season and it significantly modulates the shape of the particle number size distributions. The contribution of newly formed particles to cloud condensation nuclei concentrations was ~3 times higher in urban locations than in mountain background locations.
Cited articles
Atlas, D. and Ulbrich, C. W.: An observationally based conceptual model of warm oceanic convective rain in the tropics, J. Appl. Meteorol., 39, 2165–2181, 2000. a
Atlas, D., Ulbrich, C. W., Marks Jr., F. D., Amitai, E., and Williams, C. R.: Systematic variation of drop size and radar-rainfall relations, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 104, 6155–6169, 1999. a
Bringi, V. N. and Chandrasekar, V.: Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radar: principles and applications, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (MA), 2001. a
Cao, Q. and Zhang, G.: Errors in estimating raindrop size distribution parameters employing disdrometer and simulated raindrop spectra, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 48, 406–425, 2009. a
Chang, W.-Y., Wang, T.-C. C., and Lin, P.-L.: Characteristics of the raindrop size distribution and drop shape relation in typhoon systems in the western Pacific from the 2D video disdrometer and NCU C-band polarimetric radar, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 26, 1973–1993, 2009. a
Das, S. K., Simon, S., Kolte, Y. K., Krishna, U. M., Deshpande, S. M., and Hazra, A.: Investigation of raindrops fall velocity during different monsoon seasons over the Western Ghats, India, Earth Space Sci., 7, e2019EA000956, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EA000956, 2020. a
Dee, D. P., Uppala, S. M., Simmons, A. J., Berrisford, P., Poli, P., Kobayashi, S., Andrae, U., Balmaseda, M. A., Balsamo, G., Bauer, P., Bechtold, P., Beljaars, A. C. M., van de Berg, L., Bidlot, J., Bormann, N., Delsol, C., Dragani, R., Fuentes, M., Geer, A. J., Haimberger, L., Healy, S. B., Hersbach, H., Hólm, E. V., Isaksen, L., Kãllberg, P., Köhler, M., Matricardi, M., McNally, A. P., Monge-Sanz, B. M., Morcrette, J.-J., Park, B.-K., Peubey, C., de Rosnay, P., Tavolato, C., Thépaut, J.-N., and Vitart, F.: The ERA-Interim reanalysis: Configuration and performance of the data assimilation system, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 137, 553–597, 2011. a
Deshpande, N. and Goswami, B.: Modulation of the diurnal cycle of rainfall over India by intraseasonal variations of Indian summer monsoon, Int. J. Climatol., 34, 793–807, 2014. a
Dolman, B. K., May, P. T., Reid, I. M., and Vincent, R. A.: Profiler retrieved DSD evolution in the tropics and mid-latitudes, preprints, 35th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Pittsburgh, PA. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 8A.1., 2011. a
Farr, T. G., Rosen, P. A., Caro, E., Crippen, R., Duren, R., Hensley, S.,
Kobrick, M., Paller, M., Rodriguez, E., Roth, L., Seal, D., Shaffer, S., Shimada, J., Umland, J., Werner, M., Oskin, M., Burbank, D., and Alsdorf, D.: The shuttle radar topography mission,
Rev. Geophys., 45, RG2004, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005RG000183, 2007. a
Friedrich, K., Kalina, E. A., Masters, F. J., and Lopez, C. R.: Drop-size distributions in thunderstorms measured by optical disdrometers during VORTEX2, Mon. Weather Rev., 141, 1182–1203, 2013. a
Gao, W., Sui, C.-H., Chen Wang, T.-C., and Chang, W.-Y.: An evaluation and improvement of microphysical parameterization from a two-moment cloud microphysics scheme and the Southwest Monsoon Experiment (SoWMEX)/Terrain-influenced Monsoon Rainfall Experiment (TiMREX) observations, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 116, D19101,, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD015718, 2011. a
Giangrande, S. E., Feng, Z., Jensen, M. P., Comstock, J. M., Johnson, K. L., Toto, T., Wang, M., Burleyson, C., Bharadwaj, N., Mei, F., Machado, L. A. T., Manzi, A. O., Xie, S., Tang, S., Silva Dias, M. A. F., de Souza, R. A. F., Schumacher, C., and Martin, S. T.: Cloud characteristics, thermodynamic controls and radiative impacts during the Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) experiment, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 14519–14541, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14519-2017, 2017. a
Harikumar, R., Sampath, S., and Kumar, V. S.: An empirical model for the variation of rain drop size distribution with rain rate at a few locations in southern India, Adv. Space Res., 43, 837–844, 2009. a
Harikumar, R., Sampath, S., and Sasi Kumar, V.: Altitudinal and temporal
evolution of raindrop size distribution observed over a tropical station using
a K-band radar, Int. J. Remote Sens., 33, 3286–3300, 2012. a
Houze, R. A.: Orographic effects on precipitating clouds, Rev. Geophys., 50, RG1001, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011RG000365, 2012. a
Hoyos, C. D. and Webster, P. J.: The role of intraseasonal variability in the nature of Asian monsoon precipitation, J. Climate, 20, 4402–4424, 2007. a
Hu, Z. and Srivastava, R.: Evolution of raindrop size distribution by coalescence, breakup, and evaporation: Theory and observations, J. Atmos. Sci., 52, 1761–1783, 1995. a
Huffman, G. J., Bolvin, D. T., Braithwaite, D., Hsu, K., Joyce, R., Kidd, C., Nelkin, E. J., and Xie, P.: NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG), Algorithm Theor. Basis Doc. Version 4.5, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, USA, 16 November 2015. a
Islam, T., Rico-Ramirez, M. A., Thurai, M., and Han, D.: Characteristics of raindrop spectra as normalized gamma distribution from a Joss–Waldvogel disdrometer, Atmos. Res., 108, 57–73, 2012. a
Joss, J. and Gori, E. G.: The parametrization of raindrop size distributions, Riv. Ital. Geofis., 3, 273–283, 1976. a
Joss, J. and Waldvogel, A.: Raindrop size distribution and sampling size errors, J. Atmos. Sci., 26, 566–569, 1969. a
Kulkarni, A., Kripalani, R., Sabade, S., and Rajeevan, M.: Role of intra-seasonal oscillations in modulating Indian summer monsoon rainfall, Clim. Dynam., 36, 1005–1021, 2011. a
Kumar, L. S., Lee, Y. H., and Ong, J. T.: Two-parameter gamma drop size distribution models for Singapore, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 49, 3371–3380, 2011. a
Kumar, S., Hazra, A., and Goswami, B.: Role of interaction between dynamics, thermodynamics and cloud microphysics on summer monsoon precipitating clouds over the Myanmar Coast and the Western Ghats, Clim. Dynam., 43, 911–924, 2014. a
Kumar, V. S., Sampath, S., Vinayak, P., and Harikumar, R.: Rainfall intensity characteristics at coastal and high altitude stations in Kerala, J. Earth Syst. Sci., 116, 451–463, 2007. a
Lavanya, S., Kirankumar, N., Aneesh, S., Subrahmanyam, K., and Sijikumar, S.: Seasonal variation of raindrop size distribution over a coastal station Thumba: A quantitative analysis, Atmos. Res., 229, 86–99, 2019. a
Liao, L., Meneghini, R., Iguchi, T., and Detwiler, A.: Validation of snow parameters as derived from dual-wavelength airborne radar, preprints, 31st Int. Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Seattle, WA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., CD-ROM, P3A.4, 8 August 2003. a
Machado, L. A. T., Calheiros, A. J. P., Biscaro, T., Giangrande, S., Silva Dias, M. A. F., Cecchini, M. A., Albrecht, R., Andreae, M. O., Araujo, W. F., Artaxo, P., Borrmann, S., Braga, R., Burleyson, C., Eichholz, C. W., Fan, J., Feng, Z., Fisch, G. F., Jensen, M. P., Martin, S. T., Pöschl, U., Pöhlker, C., Pöhlker, M. L., Ribaud, J.-F., Rosenfeld, D., Saraiva, J. M. B., Schumacher, C., Thalman, R., Walter, D., and Wendisch, M.: Overview: Precipitation characteristics and sensitivities to environmental conditions during GoAmazon2014/5 and ACRIDICON-CHUVA, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6461–6482, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6461-2018, 2018. a
Maheskumar, R., Narkhedkar, S., Morwal, S., Padmakumari, B., Kothawale, D., Joshi, R., Deshpande, C., Bhalwankar, R., and Kulkarni, J.: Mechanism of high rainfall over the Indian west coast region during the monsoon season, Clim. Dynam., 43, 1513–1529, 2014. a
Mardiana, R., Iguchi, T., and Takahashi, N.: A dual-frequency rain profiling
method without the use of a surface reference technique, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 42, 2214–2225, 2004. a
Meneghini, R., Kumagai, H., Wang, J. R., Iguchi, T., and Kozu, T.:
Microphysical retrievals over stratiform rain using measurements from an
airborne dual-wavelength radar-radiometer, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 35, 487–506, 1997. a
Milbrandt, J. and Yau, M.: A multimoment bulk microphysics parameterization. Part I: Analysis of the role of the spectral shape parameter, J. Atmos. Sci., 62, 3051–3064, 2005. a
Munchak, S. J., Kummerow, C. D., and Elsaesser, G.: Relationships between the
raindrop size distribution and properties of the environment and clouds
inferred from TRMM, J. Climate, 25, 2963–2978, 2012. a
Nair, H. R.: Discernment of near oceanic precipitating clouds into convective or stratiform based on Z–R model over an Asian monsoon tropical site, Meteorol. Atmos. Phys., 132, 377–390, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-019-00696-3, 2020. a
Narayana Rao, T., Radhakrishna, B., Nakamura, K., and Prabhakara Rao, N.: Differences in raindrop size distribution from southwest monsoon to northeast monsoon at Gadanki, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 135, 1630–1637, 2009. a
NASA: Precipitation Processing System, available at: https://pmm.nasa.gov/data-access/downloads/gpm, last access: 30 November 2018. a
Pai, D., Sridhar, L., Rajeevan, M., Sreejith, O., Satbhai, N., and Mukhopadhyay, B.: Development of a new high spatial resolution (0.25×0.25) long period (1901–2010) daily gridded rainfall data set over India and its comparison with existing data sets over the region, Mausam, 65, 1–18, 2014. a
Radhakrishna, B., Satheesh, S., Narayana Rao, T., Saikranthi, K., and Sunilkumar, K.: Assessment of DSDs of GPM-DPR with ground-based disdrometer at seasonal scale over Gadanki, India, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 121, 11–792, 2016. a
Rajeevan, M., Bhate, J., Kale, J., and Lal, B.: High resolution daily gridded
rainfall data for the Indian region: Analysis of break and active, Curr. Sci. India, 91, 296–306, 2006. a
Rajopadhyaya, D. K., May, P. T., Cifelli, R. C., Avery, S. K., Willams, C. R., Ecklund, W. L., and Gage, K. S.: The effect of vertical air motions on rain rates and median volume diameter determined from combined UHF and VHF wind profiler measurements and comparisons with rain gauge measurements, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 15, 1306–1319, 1998. a
Reddy, K. K. and Kozu, T.: Measurements of raindrop size distribution over Gadanki during south-west and north-east monsoon, Indian J. Radio & Space Phys., 32, 286–295, 2003. a
Rosenfeld, D. and Ulbrich, C. W.: Cloud Microphysical Properties, Processes, and Rainfall Estimation Opportunities BT – Radar and Atmospheric Science: A Collection of Essays in Honor of David Atlas, edited by: Wakimoto, R. M. and Srivastava, R., 237–258, American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA, 2003. a, b, c
Ryzhkov, A. V., Giangrande, S. E., and Schuur, T. J.: Rainfall estimation with a polarimetric prototype of WSR-88D, J. Appl. Meteorol., 44, 502–515, 2005. a
Satyanarayana Mohan, T. and Narayana Rao, T.: Variability of the thermal structure of the atmosphere during wet and dry spells over southeast India, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 138, 1839–1851, 2012. a
Seto, S., Iguchi, T., and Oki, T.: The Basic Performance of a Precipitation Retrieval Algorithm for the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission's Single/Dual-Frequency Radar Measurements, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 51, 5239–5251, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2012.2231686, 2013. a
Simarro, C.: ECMWF Public Datasets, available at: https://apps.ecmwf.int/datasets/data/interim-full-daily/levtype=pl/, last access: on 6 July 2019. a
Sumesh, R., Resmi, E., Unnikrishnan, C., Jash, D., Sreekanth, T., Resmi, M. M., Rajeevan, K., Nita, S., and Ramachandran, K.: Microphysical aspects of tropical rainfall during Bright Band events at mid and high-altitude regions over Southern Western Ghats, India, Atmos. Res., 227, 178–197, 2019. a
Tokay, A., Bashor, P. G., and Wolff, K. R.: Error characteristics of rainfall
measurements by collocated Joss–Waldvogel disdrometers, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 22, 513–527, 2005. a
Ulbrich, C. W. and Atlas, D.: Assessment of the contribution of differential polarization to improved rainfall measurements, Radio Sci., 19, 49–57, 1984. a
Ulbrich, C. W. and Atlas, D.: Rainfall microphysics and radar properties: Analysis methods for drop size spectra, J. Appl. Meteorol., 37, 912–923, 1998. a
Utsav, B., Deshpande, S. M., Das, S. K., and Pandithurai, G.: Statistical characteristics of convective clouds over the Western Ghats derived from weather radar observations, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 10050–10076, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026183, 2017. a, b, c
Varikoden, H., Revadekar, J., Kuttippurath, J., and Babu, C.: Contrasting trends in southwest monsoon rainfall over the Western Ghats region of India, Clim. Dynam., 52, 4557–4566, 2019. a
Viltard, N., Kummerow, C., Olson, W. S., and Hong, Y.: Combined use of the radar and radiometer of TRMM to estimate the influence of drop size distribution on rain retrievals, J. Appl. Meteorol., 39, 2103–2114, 2000. a
Wen, L., Zhao, K., Zhang, G., Xue, M., Zhou, B., Liu, S., and Chen, X.: Statistical characteristics of raindrop size distributions observed in East China during the Asian summer monsoon season using 2-D video disdrometer and Micro Rain Radar data, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 121, 2265–2282, 2016. a
White, A. B., Neiman, P. J., Ralph, F. M., Kingsmill, D. E., and Persson, P. O. G.: Coastal orographic rainfall processes observed by radar during the California Land-Falling Jets Experiment, J. Hydrometeorol., 4, 264–282, 2003. a
Zagrodnik, J. P., McMurdie, L. A., Houze Jr, R. A., and Tanelli, S.: Vertical Structure and Microphysical Characteristics of Frontal Systems Passing over a Three-Dimensional Coastal Mountain Range, J. Atmos. Sci., 76, 1521–1546, 2019. a
Zhang, G., Vivekanandan, J., and Brandes, E.: A method for estimating rain rate and drop size distribution from polarimetric radar measurements, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 39, 830–841, 2001. a
Short summary
Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall exhibits sub-seasonal variability as active spells with good rainfall (wet spell) and weak spells or breaks with little to no rainfall (dry spell). Studies have shown that during the wet and dry periods of the ISM, there are contrasting behaviors in the formation of weather systems and large-scale instability. Thus, it is worth investigating how the raindrop size distribution varies during intra-seasonal timescale variations of the ISM in the Western Ghats.
Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall exhibits sub-seasonal variability as active spells with...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint