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The use of average annual rainfall to derive estimates of orographic enhancement of frontal rain over England and Wales for different wind directions
Author(s) -
Hill Frank F.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0196-1748
DOI - 10.1002/joc.3370030202
Subject(s) - orographic lift , environmental science , wind speed , climatology , intensity (physics) , meteorology , atmospheric sciences , geography , precipitation , geology , physics , quantum mechanics
A field of average annual enhancement, defined as the mean rainfall rate al inland sites minus the mean rate over the coast, has been derived for England and Wales. Past cases of frontal rain associated with low‐level winds from the SW quadrant were analysed so as to determine the typical distribution and intensity of orographic enhancement. It is shown that these results are sensitive to wind speed and, in particular, direction. Comparison of these results suggest relationships between orographic enhancement and average annual enhancement which are used to produce estimates of the distribution of enhancement which may occur with low‐level winds from other directions. These enhancement fields can he combined with radar observations of rain over the sea to produce short‐period forecasts of rainfall intensity when it moves overland.