Accomplishment of the Joint Taiwan-US Field Program SoWMEX/TiMREX (2008)

The 2008 Southwest Monsoon Experiment (SoWMEX)/Terrain-influenced Monsoon Rainfall Experiment (TiMREX) was a collaborative effort between Taiwan and US scientists. Other participants included facilities from South Korea, Japan, and Canada. The overarching goal of SoWMEX/TiMREX is to improve basic understanding of the physical process associated with the terrain-influenced heavy precipitation systems and the monsoonal environment in which they are embedded through intensive observations, data assimilation and numerical modeling studies. A variety of heavy rainfall systems were observed by the NCAR S-Pol, dropsondes released from the Taiwan's DOTSTAR aircraft, mobile X-band polarimetric Doppler radar, vertical pointing radar, disdrometer, and operational observations. This paper intends to summarize the scientific accomplishments of SoWMEX/TiMREX 10 years after the completion of the field program and stress the importance of the US-International Partnership in studying the physical processes and improving the forecast of heavy rainfall events.