Climatology of Rainfall Distribution and Asymmetries of Tropical Cyclones: A Global Perspective

Authors

Oscar Guzman ReyFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Earth Systems Science

First Advisor's Name

Haiyan Jiang

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Hugh Willoughby

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Ping Zhu

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Arturo Leon

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

Tropical cyclones, precipitation, rainfall rate, remote sensing

Date of Defense

6-27-2022

Abstract

Estimating the magnitude of tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall at different landfalling states is an important aspect of the TC forecast that directly affects the level of response from emergency managers in coastal areas. This research analyses the spatial distribution of the rainfall magnitude in tropical cyclones (TCs) at different stages over global oceans. The research’s central hypothesis is that TC rainfall exhibits distinct features in the long-term satellite dataset due to the evolution of the spatial distribution, radial variation, and asymmetries at the stages before, during, and after landfall. The resulting patterns are analyzed through a statistical approach that takes advantage of a 20-year global satellite database of rainfall retrievals from the TRMM/GPM constellation, with the aim to achieve two main objectives: 1) The first objective was to explore the global trends of TC rainfall rates using observational evidence provided by a satellite-based climatology. Results indicate there is an increasing trend in the global average TC rainfall rate of about 1.3% per year, with a more pronounced trend in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere. 2) The second objective was to examine the spatial distribution of the magnitude and axisymmetric intensity profiles of rainfall over the six TC-prone basins. The obtained differences were quantitatively investigated in terms of geographic location, sub-regions within the storm, and TC intensities. Results indicate that major hurricanes in the Atlantic basin exhibit heavier inner-core rainfall rates than those in any other basins, and this difference is highly correlated to specific environmental conditions. Overall, with the achievement of the above-described objectives, this document identifies and summarizes the dominant factors that control rainfall distribution in global TCs, mainly focused on the differences during landfilling processes.

Identifier

FIDC010719

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6076-2347

Comments

No comments

Previously Published In

Guzman, O., & Jiang, H. (2021). Heavier Inner-Core Rainfall of Major Hurricanes in the North Atlantic Basin Than in Other Global Basins, Journal of Climate, 34(14), 5707-5721.

Guzman, O. and H. Jiang, 2021: Global Increase in Tropical Cyclone Rain Rate. Nature Communications. 12, 5344.

Guzman, O., & Jiang, H. (2022). Climatology of Tropical Cyclone Rainfall Magnitude at Different Landfalling Stages. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. (In process of publication)

Recommended Citation

Guzman Rey, Oscar, "Climatology of Rainfall Distribution and Asymmetries of Tropical Cyclones: A Global Perspective" (2022). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5075.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5075