A comparison of summer precipitation structures over the South China Sea and the East China Sea based on tropical rainfall measurement mission

• Published in: Acta oceanologica Sinica Vol. 32; no. 11; pp. 41 - 49
• Main Authors: Li, Jiangnan, Yang, Chaofeng, Li, Fangzhou, He, Qihua, Li, Weibiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.11.2013; Springer Nature B.V; School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
• Subjects: Climatology; Clouds; Condensation; Convective clouds; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Environmental Chemistry; Evaporation; Evaporation rate; Heat; Heating; Latent heat; Marine; Marine & Freshwater Sciences; Oceanography; Precipitation; Rainfall; Rainfall measurement; Summer; 东中国海; 中国南海; 基础; 夏季降水; 测量任务; 热带降雨测量卫星; 降水粒子; 降水结构; South China Sea; East China Sea; China; ISEW, South China Sea; INW, Donghai Sea; precipitation; South China Sea; three-dimensional structures; tropical rainfall measurement mission; East China Sea
• ISSN: 0253-505X; 1869-1099
• DOI: 10.1007/s13131-013-0376-3

The three-dimensional structures of summer precipitation over the South China Sea （SCS） and the East China Sea （ECS） are investigated based on tropical rainfall measurement mission （TRMM）. The primary results are as follows. First, both the convective and stratiform precipitation rates in the SCS are much higher than those of the ECS. The contribution of the convective cloud precipitation to the surface precipitation is primarily over the SCS and the ECS with a proportion of about 70%, but the contribution of convective cloud precipitation is slightly larger in the SCS than the ECS. The contribution of stratus precipitation is slightly larger in the ECS than that in the SCS. Second, the content of cloud particles and precipitation particles in the ECS in June was greater than that in the SCS, while in July and August, the content of cloud and precipitation particles in the ECS was less than that in the SCS. Third, the latent heat profile of the ECS is quite different from that of the SCS. In June, the peak values of evaporation and condensation latent heating rates in the ECS are greater than those in the SCS. In July and August, however, the peak values of evaporation and condensation latent heating rates in the ECS are about 0.05°/h less than those in the SCS.