Evaluation of convective storms using spaceborne radars over theIndo-GangeticPlains and western coast of India

Monsoonal convective systems are examined using four years (2014-2017) of radar reflectivity data from the Precipitation Features (PFs) database of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual Precipitation Radar (DPR). The study classifies the cumulonimbus tower (PF-CbT) at 12 km, and intense convective clouds at both 3 km (PF-ICC3) and 8 km (PF-ICC8) based on PFs' reflectivity threshold at a reference height over the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) and Indian Western coastal (WG) region, including the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats. Results show that the regional variations are more enhanced for the PF-ICC3 clouds with high occurrence over the IGP region. In the mixed-phase regime, the median maximum reflectivity is greater for all cloud types over the IGP region. The occurrences of 20 and 40 dBZecho the top height > 5 km is higher in the IGP region, indicating the deep and intense convection. The aerosol-cloud interaction is examined for warm and mixed-phase clouds. The vertical structure of aerosols shows the suppression of warm rainfall over the IGP region. However, rainfall intensity increases in mixed-phase clouds because of the dominancy of ice processes. The significant positive (negative) correlation is observed between the echo top height and aerosol concentrations over the IGP (WG) region. The value of the novel findings clearly states the region-specific demand for a closer examination of the radar reflectivity-aerosol interaction on regime-dependent clouds over the IGP region as well as contrasts against other regions for similar and contrasting cloud-aerosol-radiation interactions.