Seasonal Distribution Characteristics of Raindrop Spectrum in Taiyuan

Ge Lili; Lü Guozhen; Zhao Guixiang; Han Chenhui; Guo Dong; Li Yajun

doi:10.11898/1001-7313.20230409

Vol.34, NO.4, 2023

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Article Navigation > Journal of Applied Meteorological Science > 2023 > 34(4): 489-502

Ge Lili, Lü Guozhen, Zhao Guixiang, et al. Seasonal distribution characteristics of raindrop spectrum in Taiyuan. J Appl Meteor Sci, 2023, 34(4): 489-502. DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20230409.

Citation:

Ge Lili, Lü Guozhen, Zhao Guixiang, et al. Seasonal distribution characteristics of raindrop spectrum in Taiyuan. J Appl Meteor Sci, 2023, 34(4): 489-502. DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20230409.

Ge Lili, Lü Guozhen, Zhao Guixiang, et al. Seasonal distribution characteristics of raindrop spectrum in Taiyuan. J Appl Meteor Sci, 2023, 34(4): 489-502. DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20230409.

Citation:

Ge Lili, Lü Guozhen, Zhao Guixiang, et al. Seasonal distribution characteristics of raindrop spectrum in Taiyuan. J Appl Meteor Sci, 2023, 34(4): 489-502. DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20230409.

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Seasonal Distribution Characteristics of Raindrop Spectrum in Taiyuan

DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20230409

1.
Shanxi Meteorological Information Center, Taiyuan 030006
2.
Shanxi Meteorological Service Center, Taiyuan 030002
3.
Shanxi Meteorological Observatory, Taiyuan 030006

Received Date: 2023-05-11
Rev Recd Date: 2023-06-21
Publish Date: 2023-07-31

Abstract

Abstract

The raindrop size distribution (RSD) and parameter characteristics of different climate regions, rain types, topographies or weather systems have been extensively studied focusing on summer precipitation. However, even microphysical characteristics of precipitation in the same region can show significant seasonal differences. Seasonal distribution characteristics of RSD with different rain rates and rainfall types in Taiyuan are investigated and compared with conclusions from other regions based on observations of precipitation phenomenometer from December 2017 to November 2022. It can provide references for localized application of the parameterization of rainfall microphysics in numerical weather and climate prediction models, the rainfall kinetic energy flux estimation and the radar quantitative precipitation estimation. In addition, satellite measurements, ground observations, and reanalysis data are applied to explain the possible mechanism of seasonal differences in RSD. The RSD presents a unimodal structure with a peak of 0.562 mm and the decrease trend of concentration is more obvious in winter. Small raindrops with diameter less than 1.0 mm contribute more than 80% of the total number concentration, while the rain rate (R) is contributed primarily from mid-size raindrops with diameter of 1-2 mm during all seasons. The rainfall with R < 1 mm·h^-1 are most frequent in different seasons, but the rainfall with R ≥ 5 mm·h^-1 is predominant in summer. For the RSD of different rain rate, the highest (lowest) concentration of large (small) raindrops in winter is observed from the first two rain rate classes, while the concentration is higher in summer when the rain rate exceeds 5 mm·h^-1. Rainfall at Taiyuan is dominated by stratiform rain throughout the year, lgN_w or D_m has minor seasonal differences, and the distribution of lgN_w and D_m is more similar to Nanjing. The convective rain occurs most often during summer and is close to the maritime-like cluster, the convective rain during spring and autumn is neither continental nor maritime, and there is no convective rain in winter. The stratiform rain has a wider spectrum width and higher concentration compared with the convective rain. μ-λ, E_t-R, E_d-D_m, and Z-R relationships are derived by the least square method for different seasons. μ-λ relationships change little with seasons, but vary significantly compared with Florida in America. The power function and the binomial function has better fitting performance for E_t-R and E_d-D_m, respectively. There is an inverse relationship between the coefficient and the exponent of the Z-R relationships. For stratiform rain, the classical relationship overestimates rainfall in spring and autumn, while the classical relationship turns from overestimated to underestimated as the rain rate increases. For convective rain, the classical relationship overestimates rainfall slightly in summer and autumn.
- raindrop spectrum;
- seasonal distribution characteristics;
- μ-λ relationship;
- rainfall kinetic energy;
- Z-R relationship

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References(33)

Figures and Tables

Fig. 1 Averaged raindrop size distributions in four seasons

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图 2 四季微物理参数箱线图

(圆圈和虚线分别为平均值和中值，箱体底线和顶线分别表示第25和第75百分位数，垂直实线的底线和顶线分别表示第5和第95百分位数，下同)

Fig. 2 Box plots for microphysical parameters in four seasons

(the circle and the dashed line of each box denote the average value and median value, bottom and top edges of the box denote the 25th and 75th percentiles, bottom and top of solid vertical lines denote the 5th and 95th percentiles, similarily hereinafter)

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Fig. 3 Contribution of raindrops in different diameter classes to N_T and R in four seasons

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Fig. 4 Averaged raindrop size distributions for different rain rate classes in four seasons

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Fig. 5 Averaged raindrop size distributions of stratiform rain and convective rain in four seasons

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图 6 lgN_w-D_m分布

(黑色表示冬季，红色表示春季，蓝色表示夏季，绿色表示秋季；误差棒表示四季层状云和对流云降水的lgN_w与D_m的标准差，虚线为层状云和对流云降水分界线，两个黑色矩形框对应文献[3]研究的大陆性和海洋性对流范围)

Fig. 6 Distribution of lgN_w-D_m

(the black for winter, the red for spring, the blue for summer, the green for autumn; error bars denote standard deviations of lgN_w and Dm, the dashed line denotes the separation of stratiform rain and convective rain, two black rectangles denote maritime and continental types of convection from Reference [3])

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图 7 μ-λ散点及拟合关系

(红色表示春季，蓝色表示夏季，绿色表示秋季)

Fig. 7 Scatter plot of μ versus λ and fitting curves

(the red for spring, the blue for summer, the green for autumn)

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Fig. 8 Scatter plots of E_t versus R, E_d versus D_m and fitting curves in four seasons

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Fig. 9 Scatter plots of Z versus R and fitting curves for stratiform rain and convective rain in four seasons

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Fig. 10 Diagram of average heights of the lifting condensation level, 0℃ isotherm and cloud-top height(a), box plots of surface wind speed(b), total column water vapor(c) and convective available potential energy(d)

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Table 1 Averaged microphysical parameters for different rain rate classes in four seasons

季节	雨强分档/(mm·h^-1)	样本量	R/(mm·h^-1)	N_T/m^-3	Z/(mm⁶·m^-3)	W/(g·m^-3)	D_m/mm	lgN_w/(m^-3·mm^-1)	μ	λ/mm^-1
冬季	0＜R＜1	1023	0.442	144.50	120.07	0.037	1.002	3.446	9.81	15.52
冬季	1≤R＜2	163	1.323	304.01	541.17	0.099	1.194	3.611	2.91	6.13
春季	0＜R＜1	10310	0.422	169.36	93.52	0.038	0.940	3.561	13.77	21.47
	1≤R＜2	3149	1.402	321.22	477.76	0.107	1.154	3.716	6.87	10.31
	2≤R＜5	2376	2.994	440.07	1596.31	0.201	1.352	3.718	4.87	7.35
	5≤R＜10	452	6.636	556.70	5384.95	0.387	1.626	3.685	3.74	5.27
	10≤R＜20	49	12.930	521.23	18667.33	0.627	2.106	3.456	3.68	3.89
	R≥20	10	34.894	466.51	98166.33	1.357	2.846	3.237	5.32	3.47
夏季	0＜R＜1	19052	0.410	141.79	105.13	0.034	1.018	3.390	15.62	22.68
	1≤R＜2	6058	1.427	332.88	504.61	0.106	1.188	3.681	9.67	13.52
	2≤R＜5	5452	3.103	476.39	1469.11	0.209	1.331	3.767	6.99	9.49
	5≤R＜10	1591	6.812	612.67	4583.83	0.405	1.551	3.795	5.74	6.92
	10≤R＜20	680	13.788	723.87	13666.96	0.731	1.806	3.786	5.20	5.43
	R≥20	422	34.786	1044.34	62804.02	1.579	2.262	3.692	3.42	3.47
秋季	0＜R＜1	14000	0.411	190.42	89.57	0.038	0.926	3.597	14.98	23.90
	1≤R＜2	5593	1.464	331.53	500.80	0.111	1.167	3.707	6.48	9.85
	2≤R＜5	5228	3.081	423.67	1593.01	0.203	1.364	3.695	4.52	6.76
	5≤R＜10	1489	6.753	529.69	5501.84	0.385	1.649	3.655	3.72	5.05
	10≤R＜20	318	12.954	637.32	14019.31	0.664	1.893	3.646	3.74	4.32
	R≥20	58	31.770	916.56	68359.38	1.381	2.421	3.547	2.82	2.98

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Table 2 Averaged microphysical parameters for different rain types in four seasons

降水类型	季节	N_T/m^-3	R/(mm·h^-1)	W/(g·m^-3)	Z/(mm⁶·m^-3)	D_m/mm	lgN_w/(m^-3·mm^-1)	μ	λ/mm^-1
层状云降水	冬季	221.63	0.804	0.064	259.93	1.056	3.544	7.30	12.00
	春季	283.39	1.265	0.094	528.90	1.064	3.701	9.12	14.45
	夏季	287.47	1.366	0.098	533.67	1.123	3.616	10.41	15.28
	秋季	309.62	1.548	0.110	726.34	1.113	3.699	8.53	13.73
对流云降水	春季	675.07	8.773	0.492	9679.98	1.747	3.671	2.29	4.04
	夏季	892.78	20.731	1.029	24640.75	1.800	3.876	4.58	5.14
	秋季	659.03	12.540	0.647	12771.84	1.787	3.701	3.42	4.35

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