Comparison of the Minimum Bounding Rectangle and Minimum Circumscribed Ellipse of Rain Cells from TRMM

Based on the TRMM dataset, this paper compares the applicability of the improved MCE(minimum circumscribed ellipse), MBR(minimum bounding rectangle), and DIA(direct indexing area) methods for rain cell fitting. These three methods can reflect the geometric characteristics of clouds and apply geometric parameters to estimate the real dimensions of rain cells. The MCE method shows a major advantage in identifying the circumference of rain cells. The circumference of rain cells identified by MCE in most samples is smaller than that identified by DIA and MBR, and more similar to the observed rain cells. The area of rain cells identified by MBR is relatively robust. For rain cells composed of many pixels(N> 20), the overall performance is better than that of MCE, but the contribution of MBR to the best identification results,which have the shortest circumference and the smallest area, is less than that of MCE. The DIA method is best suited to small rain cells with a circumference of less than 100 km and an area of less than 120 km^(2), but the overall performance is mediocre. The MCE method tends to achieve the highest success at any angle, whereas there are fewer “best identification”results from DIA or MBR and more of the worst ones in the along-track direction and cross-track direction. Through this comprehensive comparison, we conclude that MCE can obtain the best fitting results with the shortest circumference and the smallest area on behalf of the high filling effect for all sizes of rain cells.

Main Detrainment Height of Deep Convection Systems over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Southern Slope

Deep convection systems (DCSs) can rapidly lift water vapor and other pollutants from the lower troposphere to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The main detrainment height determines the level to which the air parcel is lifted. We analyzed the main detrainment height over the Tibetan Plateau and its southern slope based on the CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar 2B_GEOPROF dataset and the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder Level 2 cloud ice product onboard the Atrain constellation of Earth-observing satellites. It was found that the DCSs over the Tibetan Plateau and its southern slope have a higher main detrainment height (about 10-16 km) than other regions in the same latitude. The mean main detrainment heights are 12.9 and 13.3 km over the Tibetan Plateau and its southern slope, respectively. The cloud ice water path decreases by 16.8% after excluding the influences of DCSs, and the height with the maximum increase in cloud ice water content is located at 178 hPa (about 13 km). The main detrainment height and outflow horizontal range are higher and larger over the central and eastern Tibetan Plateau, the west of the southern slope, and the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau than that over the northwestern Tibetan Plateau. The main detrainment height and outflow horizontal range are lower and broader at nighttime than during daytime.

The first two leading modes of the tropical Pacific and their linkage without global warming

A discrepancy remains in the first two leading empirical orthogonal function(EOF) modes of the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA) based on observations since the 1980s. The EOF1 mode, representing the El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation(ENSO), is a robust result. However, the EOF2 features either El Ni?o Modoki(EM) or ENSO evolution during different periods, which is probably associated with the impacts of global warming. The underlying question is what the EOF2 mode of the tropical Pacific would be without global warming. Using the CMIP5 preindustrial scenario to exclude the influence of global warming, we find that the EOF1 mode of the tropical Pacific SSTA represents ENSO and that the EOF2 mode is not EM. According to the lead–lag correlation between the ENSO and EOF2 modes, the linkage between these two modes is as follows: …El Ni?o → EOF2 → La Ni?a →–EOF2 → El Ni?o…. By analyzing the evolution of sea surface temperature, surface wind, and subsurface ocean temperature anomalies, we find the mechanism linking the ENSO and EOF2 modes is the air–sea interaction associated with the ENSO cycle. This result suggests that the EOF2 mode represents an aspect of ENSO evolution under preindustrial conditions. Therefore, this study further indicates that the EM is probably due to the influence of global warming.

The tropical Pacific cold tongue mode and its associated main ocean dynamical process in CMIP5 models

The cold tongue mode(CTM),which represents the out-of-phase relationship in sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA)variability between the Pacific cold tongue region and elsewhere in the tropical Pacific,shows a long-term cooling trend in the eastern equatorial Pacific.In this study,we investigate how well the CTM is reproduced in historical simulations generated by the 20 models considered in Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP5).Qualitatively,all 20 models roughly capture the cooling SSTA associated with the CTM.However,a quantitative assessment(i.e.,Taylor diagrams and the ratio of the trend between the simulations and observations)shows that only five of these 20 models(i.e.,CESM1-CAM5,CMCC-CM,FGOALS-g2,IPSL-CM5B-LR,and NorESM1-M)can reproduce with useful accuracy the spatial pattern and long-term trend of the CTM.We find that these five models generally simulate the main ocean dynamical process associated with the CTM.That is,these models adequately capture the long-term cooling trend in the vertical advection of the anomalous temperature by the mean upwelling.We conclude that the performance of these CMIP5 models,with respect to simulations of the long-term cooling trend associated with the vertical advection,and the related long-term decreasing trend of the vertical gradient of the oceanic temperature anomaly,can play an important role in successful reproduction of the CTM.

Optical Properties of Cirrus Transition Zones over China Detected by CALIOP

A transition zone near cirrus lateral boundaries can be detected by CALIOP （cloud-aerosol lidar with orthogonal polarization）. In the present study, for such transition zones over China, a number of optical properties, such as the backscatter coefficient and depolarization ratio, showed transitional characteristics between cirrus and clear sky. The stepped horizontal profile showed sharp changes in particle number and morphology between cirrus clouds and clear sky. The color ratio, however, was unable to show cirrus transition features because of the low signal-to-noise ratio. Typical ice particles presented a color ratio of 0.55-1.25 and a depolarization ratio of greater than 0.12, which were significantly higher than those of clear sky. Therefore, optical properties in transition took the form of stepwise hori- zontal profiles. The proportion of typical-featured particles also demonstrated a stepped horizontal profile similar to the optical characteristics, but the relationship between the proportion and the optical characteristics was not uniform in the cirrus clouds, transition zone, and clear sky. Therefore, the optical changes in the transition zone were caused by not only the change in particle concentration, but also the change in the particles themselves. The probability dens- ity distribution of the transition-zone widths showed a positive skewness distribution, and transition zones with widths of 3-5 km occurred most frequently. Overall, transition-zone width decreased with increasing temperature and increased with increasing vertical and horizontal wind speeds. This trend demonstrated independence with the direc- tion of the vertical and horizontal winds. These observations implied that the transitional features were caused by ma- terial exchange, such as entrainment and turbulent transport, near the cirrus lateral boundaries, and by the phase trans- formation of particles, such as sublimation.