{"title":"How different is tropical cyclone precipitation over land and ocean?","authors":"Lihao Chen, Zhanhong Ma, Jianfang Fei","doi":"10.1038/s41612-025-00970-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Tropical cyclone (TC) precipitation is a major cause of severe floods and landslides. This study compares the characteristics of TC precipitation over land and ocean in the Northern Hemisphere using satellite data from 2001 – 2020. An analog selection method is used to pair each landfalling TC case with an oceanic case of the same intensity and similar atmospheric environmental conditions. Here we show robust discrepancies in rainfall rate and pattern for TCs over land and ocean. The average rain rates of landfalling TCs are 27.8% lower than those of oceanic TCs. Nonetheless, the rainfall is more intense on the right side of landfalling TCs compared with oceanic TCs. This left-right difference pattern tends to be more pronounced for TCs with faster translation speeds. Numerical simulations indicate that the increased surface friction and moisture convergence are largely responsible for the increased rainfall rate on the right side of landfalling TCs.</p>","PeriodicalId":19438,"journal":{"name":"npj Climate and Atmospheric Science","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"npj Climate and Atmospheric Science","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-00970-9","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"METEOROLOGY & ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Tropical cyclone (TC) precipitation is a major cause of severe floods and landslides. This study compares the characteristics of TC precipitation over land and ocean in the Northern Hemisphere using satellite data from 2001 – 2020. An analog selection method is used to pair each landfalling TC case with an oceanic case of the same intensity and similar atmospheric environmental conditions. Here we show robust discrepancies in rainfall rate and pattern for TCs over land and ocean. The average rain rates of landfalling TCs are 27.8% lower than those of oceanic TCs. Nonetheless, the rainfall is more intense on the right side of landfalling TCs compared with oceanic TCs. This left-right difference pattern tends to be more pronounced for TCs with faster translation speeds. Numerical simulations indicate that the increased surface friction and moisture convergence are largely responsible for the increased rainfall rate on the right side of landfalling TCs.
期刊介绍:
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science is an open-access journal encompassing the relevant physical, chemical, and biological aspects of atmospheric and climate science. The journal places particular emphasis on regional studies that unveil new insights into specific localities, including examinations of local atmospheric composition, such as aerosols.
The range of topics covered by the journal includes climate dynamics, climate variability, weather and climate prediction, climate change, ocean dynamics, weather extremes, air pollution, atmospheric chemistry (including aerosols), the hydrological cycle, and atmosphere–ocean and atmosphere–land interactions. The journal welcomes studies employing a diverse array of methods, including numerical and statistical modeling, the development and application of in situ observational techniques, remote sensing, and the development or evaluation of new reanalyses.