Observations during EPIC2001—Diurnal cycle in the East Pacific

In this work, we document the diurnal cycle of convection over the warm pool in east Pacific. The observations took place during the field campaign EPIC-2001(East Pacific Investigation of Climate 2001). The peak in convective activity is determined to occur around 10 UTC. It appears to be coincident with the maximum in mid-level moisture, but preceded by the minimum in convective inhibition for about 4 hours. Satellite infrared temperature, which is commonly used as a surrogate for convection, has its minimum about two hours later than the maximum in convective activity.