scholarly journals Investigation of the predictability and physical mechanisms of an extreme-rainfall-producing mesoscale convective system along the Meiyu front in East China: An ensemble approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 120 (20) ◽  
pp. 10,593-10,618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yali Luo ◽  
Yangruixue Chen
2014 ◽  
Vol 142 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yali Luo ◽  
Yu Gong ◽  
Da-Lin Zhang

Abstract The initiation and organization of a quasi-linear extreme-rain-producing mesoscale convective system (MCS) along a mei-yu front in east China during the midnight-to-morning hours of 8 July 2007 are studied using high-resolution surface observations and radar reflectivity, and a 24-h convection-permitting simulation with the nested grid spacing of 1.11 km. Both the observations and the simulation reveal that the quasi-linear MCS forms through continuous convective initiation and organization into west–east-oriented rainbands with life spans of about 4–10 h, and their subsequent southeastward propagation. Results show that the early convective initiation at the western end of the MCS results from moist southwesterly monsoonal flows ascending cold domes left behind by convective activity that develops during the previous afternoon-to-evening hours, suggesting a possible linkage between the early morning and late afternoon peaks of the mei-yu rainfall. Two scales of convective organization are found during the MCS's development: one is the east- to northeastward “echo training” of convective cells along individual rainbands, and the other is the southeastward “band training” of the rainbands along the quasi-linear MCS. The two organizational modes are similar within the context of “training” of convective elements, but they differ in their spatial scales and movement directions. It is concluded that the repeated convective backbuilding and the subsequent echo training along the same path account for the extreme rainfall production in the present case, whereas the band training is responsible for the longevity of the rainbands and the formation of the quasi-linear MCS.


2012 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
pp. 184-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Man Zhang ◽  
Da-Lin Zhang

Abstract A nocturnal torrential-rain-producing mesoscale convective system (MCS) occurring during the mei-yu season of July 2003 in east China is studied using conventional observations, surface mesoanalysis, satellite and radar data, and a 24-h multinested model simulation with the finest grid spacing of 444 m. Observational analyses reveal the presence of several larger-scale conditions that were favorable for the development of the MCS, including mei-yu frontal lifting, moderate cold advection aloft and a moist monsoonal flow below, and an elongated old cold dome left behind by a previously dissipated MCS. Results show that the model could reproduce the evolution of the dissipating MCS and its associated cold outflows, the triggering of three separate convective storms over the remnant cold dome and the subsequent organization into a large MCS, and the convective generation of an intense surface meso-high and meso-β-scale radar reflectivity morphologies. In particular, the model reproduces the passage of several heavy-rain-producing convective bands at the leading convective line and the trailing stratiform region, leading to the torrential rainfall at nearly the right location. However, many of the above features are poorly simulated or missed when the finest model grid uses either 1.33- or 4-km grid spacing. Results indicate the important roles of isentropic lifting of moist monsoonal air over the cold dome in triggering deep convection, a low-level jet within an elevated moist layer in maintaining conditional instability, and the repeated formation and movement of convective cells along the same path in producing the torrential rainfall.


2012 ◽  
Vol 140 (8) ◽  
pp. 2555-2574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weixin Xu ◽  
Edward J. Zipser ◽  
Yi-Leng Chen ◽  
Chuntao Liu ◽  
Yu-Chieng Liou ◽  
...  

Abstract This study investigates a long-duration mesoscale system with extremely heavy rainfall over southwest Taiwan during the Terrain-influenced Monsoon Rainfall Experiment (TiMREX). This mesoscale convective system develops offshore and stays quasi-stationary over the upstream ocean and southwest coast of Taiwan. New convection keeps developing upstream offshore but decays or dies after moving into the island, dropping the heaviest rain over the upstream ocean and coastal regions. Warm, moist, unstable conditions and a low-level jet (LLJ) are found only over the upstream ocean, while the island of Taiwan is under the control of a weak cold pool. The LLJ is lifted upward at the boundary between the cold pool and LLJ. Most convective clusters supporting the long-lived rainy mesoscale system are initiated and develop along that boundary. The initiation and maintenance is thought to be a “back-building–quasi-stationary” process. The cold pool forms from previous persistent precipitation with a temperature depression of 2°–4°C in the lowest 500 m, while the high terrain in Taiwan is thought to trap the cold pool from spreading or moving. As a result, the orography of Taiwan is “extended” to the upstream ocean and plays an indirect effect on the long-duration mesoscale system.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 6459-6489
Author(s):  
J.-H. Jeong ◽  
D.-I. Lee ◽  
C.-C. Wang ◽  
I.-S. Han

Abstract. An extreme rainfall-producing mesoscale convective system (MCS) associated with the Changma front in southeastern Korea was investigated using observational data. This event recorded historic rainfall and led to devastating flash floods and landslides in the Busan metropolitan area on 7 July 2009. The aim of the present study is to analyze and better understand the synoptic and mesoscale environment, and the behavior of quasi-stationary MCS causing extreme rainfall. Synoptic and mesoscale analyses indicate that the MCS and heavy rainfall occurred association with a stationary front which resembled a warm front in structure. A strong southwesterly low-level jet (LLJ) transported warm and humid air and supplied the moisture toward the front, and the air rose upwards above the frontal surface. As the moist air was conditionally unstable, repeated upstream initiation of deep convection by back-building occurred at the coastline, while old cells moved downstream parallel to the convective line with training effect. Because the motion of convective cells nearly opposed the backward propagation, the system as a whole moved slowly. The back-building behavior was linked to the convectively produced cold pool and its outflow boundary, which played an essential role in the propagation and maintenance of the rainfall system. As a result, the quasi-stationary MCS caused a prolonged duration of heavy rainfall, leading to extreme rainfall over the Busan metropolitan area.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-52
Author(s):  
Wenjun Cui ◽  
Xiquan Dong ◽  
Baike Xi ◽  
Zhe Feng

AbstractThis study uses machine learning methods, specifically the random forest (RF), on a radar-based mesoscale convective system (MCS) tracking dataset to classify the five types of linear MCS morphology in the contiguous United States during the period 2004-2016. The algorithm is trained using radar- and satellite-derived spatial and morphological parameters, and reanalysis environmental information from 5-yr manually identified nonlinear and five linear MCS modes. The algorithm is then used to automate the classification of linear MCSs over 8 years with high accuracy, providing a systematic, long-term climatology of linear MCSs. Results reveal that nearly 40% of MCSs are classified as linear MCSs, in which half of the linear events belong to the type of system having a leading convective line. The occurrence of linear MCSs shows large annual and seasonal variations. On average, 113 linear MCSs occur annually during the warm season (through March to October), with most of these events clustered from May through August in the central eastern Great Plains. MCS characteristics, including duration, propagation speed, orientation, and system cloud size, have large variability among the different linear modes. The systems having a trailing convective line and the systems having a back-building area of convection typically move more slowly and have higher precipitation rate, and thus have higher potential in producing extreme rainfall and flash flooding. Analysis of the environmental conditions associated with linear MCSs show that the storm-relative flow is of most importance in determining the organization mode of linear MCSs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Achmad Fahruddin Rais ◽  
Rezky Yunita ◽  
Tri Setyo Hananto

Tulisan ini merupakan studi awal yang membuktikan pengaruh Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) terhadap curah hujan (CH) ekstrem di pesisir barat Sumatra dengan menggunakan citra rapidscan 10 menit Himawari-8 kanal IR1. Untuk mendapatkan data yang berkualitas, penulis melakukan koreksi data CH penakar Hellman terhadap data standar CH di Moelaboh (MLH), Sibolga (SBG), Teluk Bayur (TBR) dan Bengkulu (BKL) serta koreksi paralaks data citra Himawari-8. Dalam mengidentifikasi MCS, penulis menggunakan kriteria brightness temperature (BT) ≤ 221 derajat kelvin (K), luasan BT ≥ 10.000 km2 dan durasi ≥ 3 jam. Hasil penelitian mengindikasikan bahwa CH ekstrem bersamaan dengan keberadaaan MCS yang membuktikan bahwa CH ekstrem diakibatkan oleh MCS di MLB, SBG, TBR dan BKL. MCS tersebut sangat dipengaruhi oleh kemunculan Westerly Wind Burst (WWB) yang terhalangi oleh Bukit Barisan untuk kasus CH ekstrem di SBG dan TBR atau berinteraksi dengan angin pasat tenggara dari Samudra Hindia sebelah barat daya Sumatra untuk kasus CH ekstrem di BKL. Untuk kaus CH ekstrem di MLB, MCS terbentuk akibat interaksi angin pasat di Samudra Hindia sebelah barat Sumatra dan aliran siklonik sebelah barat MLB. This paper was a preliminary study that proved the impact of the mesoscale convective system (MCS) on extreme rainfall on the west coast of Sumatra using rapid scan imagery of 10 minutes Himawari-8 channel IR1. To get qualified data, we conducted the correction of rainfall data of Hellman gauge to the rainfall standard data in Moelaboh (MLH), Sibolga (SBG), Teluk Bayur (TBR), and Bengkulu (BKL) and the parallax correction to Himawari-8 imagery data. To identify MCS, we used brightness temperature (BT) ≤ 221 K, BT area ≥ 10.000 km2 and duration ≥ 3 hours as the criteria. The results indicated that extreme rainfall occured simultaneously with MCS proved that the extreme rainfall caused by MCS in MLB, SBG, TBR, and BKL. The MCS was greatly influenced by the appearance of westerly wind burst (WWB) which was blocked by Bukit Barisan for extreme rainfall cases in SBG and TBR or interacted with the southeast trade winds of the Indian Ocean in the southwest of Sumatra for extreme rainfall case in BKL. For extreme rainfall case in MLB, MCS was formed due to the interaction of trade winds of the Indian Ocean in the west of Sumatra and cyclonic flow in the west of MLB.  


2016 ◽  
Vol 144 (10) ◽  
pp. 3985-4006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Hoon Jeong ◽  
Dong-In Lee ◽  
Chung-Chieh Wang

In this study, an extreme rainfall-producing quasi-stationary mesoscale convective system (MCS) associated with the Changma front in southeastern South Korea is investigated using numerical simulations and sensitivity tests. A record-breaking rainfall amount was recorded in response to repeated initiation of new cells (i.e., back-building) over the same area for several hours. The aim of this study is to realistically simulate and analyze this extreme rainfall event to better understand an impact of the cold pool that leads to the quasi-stationary MCS over southeastern South Korea by using a convection-allowing-resolution (2 km) nonhydrostatic atmospheric model. The control experiment (CNTL) was successfully performed, yielding the quasi-stationary, back-building MCS at approximately the correct location and time. In the CNTL run, diabatic cooling due to evaporation of raindrops was responsible for the formation of the cold pool. The development of the cold pool was responsible for the deceleration of the propagating convective line, which played a role in the stalling of the MCS over southeastern South Korea. Moreover, new convective cells were repeatedly initiated in the region where an oncoming warm inflow met the leading edge of the cold pool and was uplifted. In an experiment without evaporative cooling (NOEVA), the simulated precipitation pattern was shifted to the northeast because the MCS became nonstationary without the cold pool. The cold pool had an essential role in the stationarity of the MCS, which resulted in extreme rainfall over the Busan metropolitan area.


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