2013 Articles

Representation of Tropical Subseasonal Variability of Precipitation in Global Reanalyses

Kim, Daehyun; Lee, Myong-In; Kim, Dongmin; Schubert, Siegfried D.; Waliser, Duane E.; Tian, Baijun

Tropical subseasonal variability of precipitation from five global reanalyses (RAs) is evaluated against Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) observations. The RAs include the three generations of global RAs from the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), and two other RAs from the European Centre for Medium‑Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC). The analysis includes comparisons of the seasonal means and subseasonal variances of precipitation, and probability densities of rain intensity in selected areas. In addition, the space‑time power spectrum was computed to examine the tropical Madden‑Julian Oscillation (MJO) and convectively coupled equatorial waves (CCEWs).