Statistical Characteristics of Raindrop Size Distribution in Monsoon Season over South China Sea
The South China Sea (SCS) is the largest and southernmost sea in China. Water vapor from the SCS is the primary source of precipitation over coastal areas during the summer monsoon season and may cause the uneven distribution of rainfall in southern China. Deep insight into the spatial variability o...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/15/2878 |
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| author | Chaoying Huang Sheng Chen Asi Zhang Ying Pang |
| author_facet | Chaoying Huang Sheng Chen Asi Zhang Ying Pang |
| author_sort | Chaoying Huang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The South China Sea (SCS) is the largest and southernmost sea in China. Water vapor from the SCS is the primary source of precipitation over coastal areas during the summer monsoon season and may cause the uneven distribution of rainfall in southern China. Deep insight into the spatial variability of raindrop size distribution (DSD) is essential for understanding precipitation microphysics, since DSD contains abundant information about rainfall microphysics processes. However, compared to the studies of DSDs over mainland China, very little is known about DSDs over Chinese ocean areas, especially over the South China Sea (SCS). This study investigated the statistical characteristics of the DSD in summer monsoon seasons using the second-generation Particle Size and Velocity (Parsivel<sup>2</sup>) installed on the scientific research vessel that measured the size and velocity of raindrops over the SCS. In this study, the characteristics of precipitation over the SCS for daytime and nighttime rains were analyzed for different precipitation systems and upon different rain rates. It was found that: (1) rain events were more frequent during the late evening to early morning; (2) more than 78.2% of the raindrops’ diameters were less than 2 mm, and the average value of mass-weighted mean diameter <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">D</mi><mi mathvariant="normal">m</mi></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> (1.46 mm) of the SCS is similar to that over land in the southern China; (3) the stratiform precipitation features a relatively high concentration of medium to large-sized rain drops compared to other regions; (4) the DSD in the SCS agreed with a three-parameter gamma distribution for the small raindrop diameter. Furthermore, a possible factor for significant DSD variability in the ocean compared with the coast and large islands is also discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:09:57Z |
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| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:09:57Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-38c0f2d7d98340d6a95000906e51f8542023-11-22T06:05:30ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-07-011315287810.3390/rs13152878Statistical Characteristics of Raindrop Size Distribution in Monsoon Season over South China SeaChaoying Huang0Sheng Chen1Asi Zhang2Ying Pang3School of Atmospheric Sciences, Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System, Sun Yat-sen University, Ministry of Education, Zhuhai 519000, ChinaSchool of Atmospheric Sciences, Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System, Sun Yat-sen University, Ministry of Education, Zhuhai 519000, ChinaGuangdong Meteorological Observatory, Guangzhou 510641, ChinaSchool of Atmospheric Sciences, Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System, Sun Yat-sen University, Ministry of Education, Zhuhai 519000, ChinaThe South China Sea (SCS) is the largest and southernmost sea in China. Water vapor from the SCS is the primary source of precipitation over coastal areas during the summer monsoon season and may cause the uneven distribution of rainfall in southern China. Deep insight into the spatial variability of raindrop size distribution (DSD) is essential for understanding precipitation microphysics, since DSD contains abundant information about rainfall microphysics processes. However, compared to the studies of DSDs over mainland China, very little is known about DSDs over Chinese ocean areas, especially over the South China Sea (SCS). This study investigated the statistical characteristics of the DSD in summer monsoon seasons using the second-generation Particle Size and Velocity (Parsivel<sup>2</sup>) installed on the scientific research vessel that measured the size and velocity of raindrops over the SCS. In this study, the characteristics of precipitation over the SCS for daytime and nighttime rains were analyzed for different precipitation systems and upon different rain rates. It was found that: (1) rain events were more frequent during the late evening to early morning; (2) more than 78.2% of the raindrops’ diameters were less than 2 mm, and the average value of mass-weighted mean diameter <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">D</mi><mi mathvariant="normal">m</mi></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> (1.46 mm) of the SCS is similar to that over land in the southern China; (3) the stratiform precipitation features a relatively high concentration of medium to large-sized rain drops compared to other regions; (4) the DSD in the SCS agreed with a three-parameter gamma distribution for the small raindrop diameter. Furthermore, a possible factor for significant DSD variability in the ocean compared with the coast and large islands is also discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/15/2878South China Searaindrop size distributionsummer monsoon season |
| spellingShingle | Chaoying Huang Sheng Chen Asi Zhang Ying Pang Statistical Characteristics of Raindrop Size Distribution in Monsoon Season over South China Sea Remote Sensing South China Sea raindrop size distribution summer monsoon season |
| title | Statistical Characteristics of Raindrop Size Distribution in Monsoon Season over South China Sea |
| title_full | Statistical Characteristics of Raindrop Size Distribution in Monsoon Season over South China Sea |
| title_fullStr | Statistical Characteristics of Raindrop Size Distribution in Monsoon Season over South China Sea |
| title_full_unstemmed | Statistical Characteristics of Raindrop Size Distribution in Monsoon Season over South China Sea |
| title_short | Statistical Characteristics of Raindrop Size Distribution in Monsoon Season over South China Sea |
| title_sort | statistical characteristics of raindrop size distribution in monsoon season over south china sea |
| topic | South China Sea raindrop size distribution summer monsoon season |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/15/2878 |
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