Observed Evolution of Tropical Deep Convective Events and Their Environment

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Abstract
Using a compositing technique, the temporal progression of tropical convective systems and the mean atmospheric state in their vicinity is constructed from a time series of geostationary satellite and operational rawinsonde data. The technique establishes the stage in the life cycle of convection prevailing at a given place and time, by a simple objective method using time series of satellite brightness temperature (Tb) histograms collected from a region surrounding the site. Soundings are classified according to their placement in the convective life cycle, and composites formed that represent the areal-mean state of the convecting atmosphere at each stage, for several scales of horizontal averaging. The temporal structure found here for the mesoscale-mean atmosphere closely resembles existing observations of the horizontal structure of a tropical squall line, albeit with certain reductions in amplitude and stabilization rate. This supports the generality of previous findings that the physical m... Abstract Using a compositing technique, the temporal progression of tropical convective systems and the mean atmospheric state in their vicinity is constructed from a time series of geostationary satellite and operational rawinsonde data. The technique establishes the stage in the life cycle of convection prevailing at a given place and time, by a simple objective method using time series of satellite brightness temperature (Tb) histograms collected from a region surrounding the site. Soundings are classified according to their placement in the convective life cycle, and composites formed that represent the areal-mean state of the convecting atmosphere at each stage, for several scales of horizontal averaging. The temporal structure found here for the mesoscale-mean atmosphere closely resembles existing observations of the horizontal structure of a tropical squall line, albeit with certain reductions in amplitude and stabilization rate. This supports the generality of previous findings that the physical m...

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