Advances in Geosciences www.adv-geosci.net 1680-7340 1680-7359 17 9th EGU Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms (2007) 2008 10.5194/adgeo-17-87-2008 http://www.adv-geosci.net/17/87/2008/ http://www.adv-geosci.net/17/87/2008/adgeo-17-87-2008.html http://www.adv-geosci.net/17/87/2008/adgeo-17-87-2008.pdf 87 91 2008-12-22 Precipitation climatology over Mediterranean Basin from ten years of TRMM measurements A. V. Mehta amita@radar.gsfc.nasa.gov S. Yang Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21228, USA I. M. Systems Group and Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR)/NESDIS/ NOAA, Camp Springs, MD 20746, USA Climatological features of mesoscale rain activities over the Mediterranean region between 5° W–40° E and 28° N–48° N are examined using the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) 3B42 and 2A25 rain products. The 3B42 rainrates at 3-hourly, 0.25°×0.25° spatial resolution for the last 10 years (January 1998 to July 2007) are used to form and analyze the 5-day mean and monthly mean climatology of rainfall. Results show considerable regional and seasonal differences of rainfall over the Mediterranean Region. The maximum rainfall (3–5 mm day^−1) occurs over the mountain regions of Europe, while the minimum rainfall is observed over North Africa (~0.5 mm day^−1). The main rainy season over the Mediterranean Sea extends from October to March, with maximum rainfall occurring during November–December. Over the Mediterranean Sea, an average rainrate of ~1–2 mm day^−1 is observed, but during the rainy season there is 20% larger rainfall over the western Mediterranean Sea than that over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. During the rainy season, mesoscale rain systems generally propagate from west to east and from north to south over the Mediterranean region, likely to be associated with Mediterranean cyclonic disturbances resulting from interactions among large-scale circulation, orography, and land-sea temperature contrast. Alpert, P., Baldi, M., Ilani, R., et al.: Relations between climate variability in the Mediterranean region and the tropics: ENSO, South Asian and African monsoons, hurricanes and Saharan dust, Mediterranean Climate Variability, Elsevier B. V., 149–177, 2006. Homar, V., Jansa, A., Campins, J., Genoves, A., and Ramis. C.: Towards a systematic climatology of sensitivities of Mediterranean high impact weather: a contribution based on intense cyclones, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 7, 445–454, 2007. Huffman, G. J., Adler, R. F., Bolvin, D. T., Gu, G., Nelkin, E. J., Bowman, K. P., Hong, Y., Stocker, E. F., and Wolff, D. B.: The TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA): quasi-global, multi-year, combined-sensor precipitation estimates at fine scales, J. Hydrometeorol., 8(1), 38–55, 2007. Kummerow, C., Hong, Y., Olson, W. S., Yang, S., Adler, R. F., Mccollum, J., Ferraro, R., Petty, G., and Wilheit, T. T.: The evolution of the Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF) for rainfall estimation from passive microwave sensors, J. Appl. Meteorol., 40, 1801–1820, 2001. Lionello, P., Malanotte-Rizzoli, P., Boscolo, R., et al. : The Mediterranean Climate: An overview of the main characteristics and issues, Mediterranean Climate Variability, Elsevier B. V., 1–26, 2006a. Lionello, P., Bhend, J., Buzzi, A., et al. : Cyclones in the Mediterranean region: climatology and effects on the environment, Mediterranean Climate Variability, Elsevier B. V., 325–372, 2006b. Trigo, R. M., Xoplaki, E., Zorita, E., et al.: Relationship between variability in the Mediterranean region and mid-latitude variability, Mediterranean Climate Variability, Elsevier B. V., 179–226, 2006. Trigo, I. F.: Climatology and interannual variability of storm-tracks in the Euro-Atlantic sector: a comparison between ERA-40 and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis, Clim. Dynam., 26, 127–143, 2006. Xoplaki, E., Gonzalez-Rouco, J. F., Luterbacher, J., and Wanner, H.: Wet season Mediterranean precipitation variability: influence of large-scale dynamics and trends, Clim. Dynam., 23, 63–78, 2004. Yang, S. and Smith, E. A.: Convective – stratiform precipitation variability at seasonal scale from eight years of TRMM observations: Implications for multiple modes of diurnal variability, J. Climate, 21, 4087–4114, 2008.