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Observed radar reflectivity in convectively coupled Kelvin and mixed Rossby‐gravity waves
Author(s) -
Swann A.,
Sobel A. H.,
Yuter S. E.,
Kiladis G. N.
Publication year - 2006
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 - 10.1029/2006gl025979
Subject(s) - kelvin wave , convection , rossby wave , atmospheric sciences , geology , geophysics , gravity wave , storm , radar , atmosphere (unit) , physics , meteorology , gravitational wave , climatology , astrophysics , telecommunications , computer science
Propagating disturbances in the tropical atmosphere exhibiting characteristics of linear equatorial waves have been shown to be “coupled” to convection. In some cases, a rain event at a specific location can be associated with a particular wave of sufficiently large amplitude. Rain events spanning three years at Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, 8.72°N 167.73°E, are classified by associated wave type (i.e. Kelvin or mixed Rossby‐gravity (MRG)) using space‐time spectral‐filtered outgoing longwave radiation (OLR). Contoured frequency by altitude diagrams (CFADs) of radar for the classified dates were compared between the two groups. The Kelvin wave accumulated CFAD has a distribution shifted to lower reflectivities compared to MRG suggesting that Kelvin storms likely contain a larger fraction of stratiform to convective area compared to MRG storms.