HR: 1400h
AN: A23A-09    [Abstracts]
TI: Analysis of the Spatio-temporal Distribution of Latent Heating in the Southeast Asian Monsoon Region
AU: * Zuluaga, M D
EM: manuel.zuluaga@eas.gatech.edu
AF: School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, United States
AU: Hoyos, C D
EM: choyos@eas.gatech.edu
AF: School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, United States
AU: Webster, P J
EM: pjw@eas.gatech.edu
AF: School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, United States
AB: The latent heat released as a result of deep convection plays an important role driving the global atmospheric circulation, including the Southeast Asian Monsoon. In particular, knowing the spatio-temporal structure of the latent heating during the wet monsoon season its very important to understand the interaction between the seasonal features of the monsoon and the summer manifestation of the intraseasonal oscillation in the Indian Ocean basin, and hence the distribution of the precipitation during the wet season.. For this reason, TRMM TMI data (1B11 and 2A12 algorithms) from May to September of different years is used to estimate the distribution of the latent heating in the vertical during active and break conditions as defined by the intraseasonal oscillation. This analysis is performed both for the entire region including areas with and without storms, as well as only for regions with storms. These storms were classified using a clustering algorithm based on thresholds of Brightness Temperature. A comparison of the average vertical heating profiles for storms with and without Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCSs) is performed. Similarly, a detailed spatial analysis focusing in key regions of the Southeast Asian monsoon, including Bay of Bengal, Equatorial Indian Ocean, Central India and Western Ghats was carried out. Modulation of the latent heating due to Intraseasonal variability is also studied, focusing on the differences between the latent heating profiles during the suppressed and active phases of the oscillation. Preliminary results show significant differences in the vertical distribution of the heating between storms with and without MCSs as well as for different regions and different phases of the intraseasonal oscillation. For highly developed convective storms (MCS) it was noted a deep warming aloft stronger than for those in early stages of development. Regional profiles of latent heating show differences in the vertical distribution related to the origin of the precipitating cloud inside each region.
DE: 3314 Convective processes
DE: 3354 Precipitation (1854)
DE: 3360 Remote sensing
DE: 3374 Tropical meteorology
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly