Analysis of rainfall and electrification characteristics of MCS during TRMM-LBA in the context of varying environmental regimes (Formerly paper 5B.7)

Filtered time series analysis of echo areal coverage collected by the TOGA radar, partitioned into convective and stratiform raining area, is used to identify distinct monsoon-like and break regimes during the 55-day TRMM LBA experiment. A time series analysis of electrical field mill data contained within the area of radar coverage indicates strongly contrasting periods of active vs. suppressed lightning activity. Preliminary analysis of radiosonde results at the LBA sounding sites illustrates varying wind regimes in which mesoscale convective systems (MCS) developed, and these regimes are related to trends in the rainfall and lightning. Multi-day episodes of low-level northwesterly flow featured MCS containing a large fraction of stratiform relative to convective rain, with little lightning activity. In contrast, periods of northeasterly flow produced MCS with more vigorous convection and attendant higher occurrence of lighting.