A comprehensive multi sensor study of spatio-temporal variation of hail occurrence and their size over the north eastern part of India

Abstract

A study of spatial and temporal variation of hail occurrences and their size is carried out over the north-eastern part of India (23 – 29 °N and 89-100 °E) during the pre-monsoon season (March-May). For this purpose, thirty four years of ground report data of hail occurrence (1985-2018) and four years of their size (2015-2018) at eleven meteorological stations of India Meteorological Department are utilized. The hail events are analyzed in association with the multi sensor observations. A near simultaneous radar reflectivity profile observations from Ku band precipitation radar on TRMM and GPM satellites are considered. Thermal infrared imager (TIR 11.3 μm on INSAT-3D, along with the Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at Agartala and Dibrugarah (Mohanbari) stations are utilized to study the life cycle of hail storms. The ice microphysical properties in the mixed phase region are studied by CloudSat observations. The nearby radiosonde observations are utilized to study the instability condition of the atmosphere during hail events.