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A new satellite deep convective ice index for tropical climate monitoring: Possible implications for existing oceanic precipitation data sets
Author(s) -
Robertson Franklin R.,
Spencer Roy W.,
Fitzjarrald Daniel E.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2000gl011892
Subject(s) - climatology , environmental science , convection , precipitation , troposphere , atmosphere (unit) , sea surface temperature , atmospheric sciences , geology , meteorology , geography
The tropical atmosphere is continually overturning, with deep moist convective cloud systems exporting energy from the subcloud layer and depositing it in the upper troposphere. A new satellite index of this deep convective activity is based upon measurements of large ice particles in the upper portions of tropical convective complexes. This 20‐year record reveals a strong signal of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with 10 to 15% upward (downward) swings in the deep convective index during El Niño (La Niña). Warming of tropical sea surface temperatures (SST), whether from anthropogenically‐produced greenhouse gases or natural climate variability, is expected to be associated with more convective overturning of the atmosphere. While other tropical precipitation climatologies vary dramatically in their support of this relationship, the present deep convective ice (DCI) index shows a strong correlation between interannual variations of tropical convection and SST.