Relationship between northeast monsoon rainfall and near-surface atmospheric wind convergence over the North Indian Ocean using multisatellite data

The northeast monsoon rainfall (NEMR) contributes about 20–40 % of annual rainfall over the North Indian Ocean (NIO). In the present study, the relationship between the NEMR and near-surface atmospheric wind convergence (NSAWC) over the NIO is demonstrated using high-resolution multisatellite data. The rainfall product from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis and near-surface wind product from the Cross-Calibration Multi-Platform available at 0.25° × 0.25° spatial resolution are used for the study. Large-scale NSAWC and divergence maps over the tropical Indian Ocean are generated at monthly scale from the wind product for the period of 1988–2010. A preliminary analysis is carried out for two consecutive anomalous Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) years 2005 (negative) and 2006 (positive). The distinct spatial patterns of rainfall rate and NSAWC fields over the NIO clearly show the evolution of the anomalous IOD events in the south eastern equatorial Indian Ocean (EEIO). The spatially averaged time-series of pentad NSAWC over the south EEIO box suggests that the variability occurs in phase with rainfall rate during both the northeast monsoon years. Furthermore, the scatter plot between area-averaged pentad rainfall and convergence over the south EEIO box for the period of 1998–2010 shows statistically significant linear correlation which reveals that NSAWC plays a key role in regulating the NEMR. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013