Regional and seasonal variations of precipitation systems in Bangladesh

Regional and seasonal variations of precipitation systems are studied to understand the monsoonal rainfall in Bangladesh using Bangladesh Meteorological Department S-band weather radar Plan Position Indicator scans data and National Centers for Environmental Prediction reanalysis data. Precipitation systems are divided into arc-, line- and scattered-type according to their shape. The arc-type systems are dominant in the all four quadrants with maximum occurrence in the northeastern quadrant during the pre-monsoon period whereas the scattered-type systems are dominant in the southeast, northeast and southwest quadrants during the monsoon period. The arc-type systems are dominant in the northwest quadrant during the monsoon period. In the pre-monsoon period, the arc-type systems may be developed through the interaction of different air masses and the orographic effects in the presence of strong vertical wind shear between the 925 and 500 hPa levels and dry mid level. In the monsoon period, the scattered-type systems may be developed due to plenty of moisture supplied by low-level monsoon winds from the Bay of Bengal and the orographic effects in the presence of little or no remarkable vertical wind shear between the 925 and 500 hPa levels. Keywords: Precipitation systems; Bangladesh; Pre-monsoon; Monsoon; Radar DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljp.v12i0.4094 Sri Lankan Journal of Physics, Vol. 12 (2011) 7-14