Enhancement of ice-phase precipitation caused by thermal forcing produces ghost echoes over the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract Whether tall storms produce heavy precipitation is currently a controversial topic. Here, we used seven years of observations from the dual-frequency precipitation radar and found that there is a rare but unique vertical precipitation structure over the Tibetan Plateau. The radar echo peaks...

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Autores principales:	Yilun Chen, Aoqi Zhang, Shumin Chen, Chaoyong Tu, Weibiao Li, Yunfei Fu
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/8e8aa4e13cd7434d9a1079ce7f1f200b
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:8e8aa4e13cd7434d9a1079ce7f1f200b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:8e8aa4e13cd7434d9a1079ce7f1f200b2021-12-02T17:06:34ZEnhancement of ice-phase precipitation caused by thermal forcing produces ghost echoes over the Tibetan Plateau10.1038/s41612-021-00199-22397-3722https://doaj.org/article/8e8aa4e13cd7434d9a1079ce7f1f200b2021-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-021-00199-2https://doaj.org/toc/2397-3722Abstract Whether tall storms produce heavy precipitation is currently a controversial topic. Here, we used seven years of observations from the dual-frequency precipitation radar and found that there is a rare but unique vertical precipitation structure over the Tibetan Plateau. The radar echo peaks above the freezing height, which we refer to as a “ghost echo”. The existence of a ghost echo increases the echo-top height but suppresses the increase in droplet size below it, and therefore weakens the near-surface precipitation. Compared with normal echoes, ghost echoes appear more often in the afternoon. The potentially unstable environment produced by thermal forcing is the main cause of ghost echoes, rather than the dynamic factor of wind shear. The ghost echo, which is essentially a mechanism of ice-phase precipitation enhancement, represents a type of tall but weak precipitation. Its existence adds to our current perception of the nature of precipitation.Yilun ChenAoqi ZhangShumin ChenChaoyong TuWeibiao LiYunfei FuNature PortfolioarticleEnvironmental sciencesGE1-350Meteorology. ClimatologyQC851-999ENnpj Climate and Atmospheric Science, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 1-6 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999
spellingShingle	Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Yilun Chen Aoqi Zhang Shumin Chen Chaoyong Tu Weibiao Li Yunfei Fu Enhancement of ice-phase precipitation caused by thermal forcing produces ghost echoes over the Tibetan Plateau
description	Abstract Whether tall storms produce heavy precipitation is currently a controversial topic. Here, we used seven years of observations from the dual-frequency precipitation radar and found that there is a rare but unique vertical precipitation structure over the Tibetan Plateau. The radar echo peaks above the freezing height, which we refer to as a “ghost echo”. The existence of a ghost echo increases the echo-top height but suppresses the increase in droplet size below it, and therefore weakens the near-surface precipitation. Compared with normal echoes, ghost echoes appear more often in the afternoon. The potentially unstable environment produced by thermal forcing is the main cause of ghost echoes, rather than the dynamic factor of wind shear. The ghost echo, which is essentially a mechanism of ice-phase precipitation enhancement, represents a type of tall but weak precipitation. Its existence adds to our current perception of the nature of precipitation.
format	article
author	Yilun Chen Aoqi Zhang Shumin Chen Chaoyong Tu Weibiao Li Yunfei Fu
author_facet	Yilun Chen Aoqi Zhang Shumin Chen Chaoyong Tu Weibiao Li Yunfei Fu
author_sort	Yilun Chen
title	Enhancement of ice-phase precipitation caused by thermal forcing produces ghost echoes over the Tibetan Plateau
title_short	Enhancement of ice-phase precipitation caused by thermal forcing produces ghost echoes over the Tibetan Plateau
title_full	Enhancement of ice-phase precipitation caused by thermal forcing produces ghost echoes over the Tibetan Plateau
title_fullStr	Enhancement of ice-phase precipitation caused by thermal forcing produces ghost echoes over the Tibetan Plateau
title_full_unstemmed	Enhancement of ice-phase precipitation caused by thermal forcing produces ghost echoes over the Tibetan Plateau
title_sort	enhancement of ice-phase precipitation caused by thermal forcing produces ghost echoes over the tibetan plateau
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/8e8aa4e13cd7434d9a1079ce7f1f200b
work_keys_str_mv	AT yilunchen enhancementoficephaseprecipitationcausedbythermalforcingproducesghostechoesoverthetibetanplateau AT aoqizhang enhancementoficephaseprecipitationcausedbythermalforcingproducesghostechoesoverthetibetanplateau AT shuminchen enhancementoficephaseprecipitationcausedbythermalforcingproducesghostechoesoverthetibetanplateau AT chaoyongtu enhancementoficephaseprecipitationcausedbythermalforcingproducesghostechoesoverthetibetanplateau AT weibiaoli enhancementoficephaseprecipitationcausedbythermalforcingproducesghostechoesoverthetibetanplateau AT yunfeifu enhancementoficephaseprecipitationcausedbythermalforcingproducesghostechoesoverthetibetanplateau
_version_	1718381566238916608

Enhancement of ice-phase precipitation caused by thermal forcing produces ghost echoes over the Tibetan Plateau

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