Precipitation Characteristics Observed in Panama

The NASA 10-cm polarimetric Doppler radar (NPOL) was deployed in southern Panama during the NASA sponsored Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) experiment. The experiment was conducted between 16 July and 12 August 2007. The radar operated continuously during the experiment and observed a variety of convective events. The goal of the study is use NPOL observations to characterize the convective systems that were observed in Panama. The study examines the distribution of radar derived precipitation features such as size, intensity, vertical structure, storm duration, diurnal variability, and other attributes that describe the systems. It was observed that precipitation feature characteristics had unique properties that were dependent on the location of the initial development (over ocean or land). A summary of the observed precipitation systems characteristics and a land/ocean comparison results will be discussed in the presentation.