Orographic low-level clouds of Southeast Asia during the cold surges of the winter monsoon

This study is an examination of low clouds over Southeast Asia during northern fall and winter using albedo values derived from visible images, cloud-top temperatures from infrared radiation images from the Multi-functional Transport Satellite 1 (MTSAT-1), and rainfall-top height (storm height) from precipitation radar (PR) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellites. To understand the cloud and precipitation activities associated with the winter monsoon cold surges along the eastern coast of the Indochina Peninsula, atmospheric circulation data from the Japanese 25-year reanalysis (JRA-25) were used. The results showed that low clouds were frequently observed in December, January, and February. In October and November, rainfall activity was relatively high, whereas, in northern winter, it was low, although the winter monsoon northeasterly was strong in both cases. The cloud-top height and storm height decreased with the seasonal march from northern fall to winter. Also examined in this study were the temporal variations in cloud activity on shorter time scales than those of the seasonal march. Concurrent with the cold surges along the eastern coast of the Eurasia, clouds varied on synoptic and intraseasonal time scales. The timing of low-cloud formation corresponded to the beginning of the cold surges. However, the low clouds along the eastern coast of the Indochina Peninsula may remain during the weakening phase of the cold surges. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.