- China Meteorological Administration Basin Heavy Rainfall Key Laboratory/Hubei Key Laboratory for Heavy Rain Monitoring and Warning Research, Institute of Heavy Rain, China Meteorological Administration, Wu-han 430205
In this study, the microphysical characteristics of summer and winter liquid rainfall are analyzed by 4 Parsivel sites in Hubei Province in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River during 2015-2018. The possible reasons for summer and winter DSD differences are also discussed. The main conclusions are summarized as follows:
(1) Hubei Province is dominated by stratified rainfall in winter, while summer includes convective, stratified, and mixed rainfall. Compared with winter, the average rain rate and Dm in summer are larger, the number concentration Nw is relatively smaller, while difference between δM is very small. The PDF distribution of Dm peak value are about 1.0 mm both in summer and winter, and the Dm data is skewed to the right while the Nw show the opposite.
(2) With increasing rain rate, the Dm increases in both summer and winter. For rain rate R < 2 mm h-1, there are larger Dm and smaller Nw in summer than that in winter, while for the rain rete R > 2 mm h-1 shows the opposite.
(3) There are differences in the μ-λ and Z-R relationships between summer and winter in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The relationships also different from those in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
(4) The middle reaches of the Yangtze River are mainly influenced by the warm and humid air transport originates in the subtropical South Indian Ocean. In summer, the convective rainfall raindrops grow by collision–coalescence mechanism, and the break-up mechanism also plays an important role which makes smaller diameter. The ice particles could grow sufficiently and fall to the ground with enough time by the accretion mechanism in winter.
In summary, this study gives an insight into the seasonal characteristics of rainfall microphysics in summer and winter, which are very useful for radar QPE and numerical forecasting models modify in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. However, due to the limitation of observation data, more types of observation data and numerical models simulation should be included to understand the mechanism of the microphysical processes for future reach.
How to cite: Wang, B. and Fu, Z.: The seasonal characteristics of summer and winter raindrops size distribution in Central China, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-3232, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-3232, 2025.
