Observational Evidence of Increasing Intensity and Frequency of Deep Convective Clouds During the Indian Summer Monsoon Season

In the context of recent anomalous behavior of the Indian summer monsoon, this study investigates the long-term changes in deep convective clouds and extreme rainfall during the summer monsoon periods from 2000 to 2020. Through the analysis of a long-term, climate-quality satellite data set, we provide observational evidence of significant increases in the cloud top height of deep convective clouds over the Indian subcontinent and adjacent oceanic regions. These regions also exhibit substantial increases in the frequency of occurrence of deep convective clouds. The observations indicate that the deep convective cloud top temperature decreases at approximately 4 K per decade. Our analysis reveals that these changes have accelerated markedly in the recent decade, especially post-2010. It is observed that there has been a significant increase in extreme monsoon rainfall, across the Indian subcontinent during the years 2000-2020. This emphasizes the connection between the intensification of deep convective clouds and monsoon extremes.