Precipitation Characteristics of Cyclonic Disturbances over the South Asia Region as Revealed by TRMM and GPM

Abstract

Abstract The relative contributions of cyclonic disturbances (CDs; i.e., low pressure systems, depressions, and cyclonic storms) and non-CDs to annual and seasonal rainfall are studied using 22 years of TRMM and GPM measurements during the passage of 866 CDs in the South Asia region (SAR). The changes in stratiform and convective precipitation within the cyclonic storm and in different CDs are also examined. The rainfall in the wettest regions of the SAR, the west coasts of India and Myanmar, and the slopes of the Himalayas is of non-CD origin, while CD rainfall peaks in the eastern parts of the monsoon trough and the northern Bay of Bengal (BOB). The CD rain fraction (RF) of annual and seasonal rainfall exhibits large spatial variation in the range of 4%–55%. The land–ocean dichotomy exhibited by CD RF is not uniform across India. Large CD RF is confined to the coast in some regions due to topographical barriers, but extends to 800–1000 km inland from the coast in the monsoon trough region. Low pressure systems contribute more to annual rain than depressions and cyclonic storms in the monsoon trough and the northern BOB (∼40%), particularly during the monsoon, mainly due to their frequent occurrence. The stratiform RF and occurrence are higher in CDs than in non-CDs, with the greatest contribution in central India (>80%), whereas the non-CDs are characterized by having higher convective RFs. The stratiform rain occurrence increases with intensification of CDs over both land and ocean, indicating its importance in the intensification of CDs and organizing large-scale systems.