Rainfall and Radiative Heating Rates from TOGA COARE Atmospheric Budgets

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Abstract
Atmospheric heat and moisture budgets are used to determine rainfall and radiative heating rates over the western Pacific warm pool during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE). Results are compared to independent estimates of these quantities from the other sources. Using the COARE bulk flux algorithm to estimate surface evaporation over the intensive flux array (IFA), the IFA moisture budget-derived average rainfall for the 120-day intensive observing period (IOP) is 8.2 mm day−1. This value agrees closely with recent estimates from satellites and the ocean salinity budget. For a smaller area within the IFA containing the rain-mapping domain of the TOGA and Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5-cm radars, the atmospheric budget for the 101-day radar deployment yields 6.8 mm day−1, slightly greater than the independent radar rain rate estimate of 5.4 mm day−1. Comparison of budget-derived rainfall with National Centers for Environmental ... Abstract Atmospheric heat and moisture budgets are used to determine rainfall and radiative heating rates over the western Pacific warm pool during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE). Results are compared to independent estimates of these quantities from the other sources. Using the COARE bulk flux algorithm to estimate surface evaporation over the intensive flux array (IFA), the IFA moisture budget-derived average rainfall for the 120-day intensive observing period (IOP) is 8.2 mm day−1. This value agrees closely with recent estimates from satellites and the ocean salinity budget. For a smaller area within the IFA containing the rain-mapping domain of the TOGA and Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5-cm radars, the atmospheric budget for the 101-day radar deployment yields 6.8 mm day−1, slightly greater than the independent radar rain rate estimate of 5.4 mm day−1. Comparison of budget-derived rainfall with National Centers for Environmental ...

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