Climatology of Precipitation Types in Tropical Cyclones Using Version 7 of the TRMM PR 2A23 Product

Tropical precipitation generally consists of two types: stratiform and convective precipitation. The separation of stratiform and convective types of precipitation and the determination of their distributions in tropical cyclones (TCs) are important because both rain types have different vertical heating profiles, which can impact the TC intensification process differently. In this study, a climatology of precipitation types in TCs will be generated from the 16-yr (1998-2013) Tropical Rain Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) 2A23 (Version 7) dataset. It will be compared with the climatology of precipitation types in total tropical precipitation. Precipitation types will be classified into stratiform, deep convective, shallow convective, anvil based on the 2A23 output parameters. These precipitation types in TCs as a function of different TC regions, intensities, and intensity change stages will be compared.