The relationship between precipitation and atmospheric vertical motion is investigated over the globe. By combining and averaging precipitation rates within small ranges of vertical motion, the mean precipitation rate is found to vary smoothly with vertical motion. The relationship is modelled with a simple function that assumes zero precipitation for subsidence and linearly increasing precipitation for ascending motion. Function parameters are computed from NCEP reanalysis data individually for every grid point and every calendar month. Variations in the slope account for geographical and seasonal variations in moisture and other precipitation factors. / At each grid point, the scheme diagnoses precipitation rate from a single concurrent value of vertical motion. It is shown to have moderate skill over climatology in predicting mean monthly precipitation. Midlatitudes, oceans and the winter season are favoured. The scheme is designed to extract precipitation fields from a dry GCM. Application to climate modeling is discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.33834 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Rose, Brian E. J. |
| Contributors | Lin, Charles A. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001874432, proquestno: MQ78951, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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