Estimating Rainfall in Regions of Active Convection

Abstract

[An attempt to estimate rainfall in convectively active regions using Kuo's parameterization scheme has been made. The precipitation in this model is given by P=lQ1/Δt, where P is the precipitation per unit time, l the fraction of a synoptic area covered by deep active convection, Q1 the amount of condensation heating according to moist adiabatic ascent, and Δt a time parameter related to the precipitating lifetime of the convective elements. Investigation of the above equation when P, l and Q1 were available indicated that an appropriate time parameter was 30 min and that the main contribution to the precipitation comes from the l parameter. A case is presented where l is obtained from satellite observations. The resulting precipitation estimate appears quite reasonable. The potential for estimating precipitation over the tropical oceans is pointed out.]