Spatial and temporal characteristics of rain intensity in the peninsular Malaysia using TRMM rain rate
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2010
Abstract
The present study is focused on the intensity distribution of rainfall in different classes and their contribution to the total seasonal rainfall. In addition, we studied the spatial and diurnal variation of the rainfall in the study areas. For the present study, we retrieved data from TRMM (Tropical Rain Measuring Mission) rain rate available in every 3 h temporal and 25 km spatial resolutions. Moreover, station rainfall data is used to validate the TRMM rain rate and found significant correlation between them (linear correlation coefficients are 0.96, 0.85, 0.75 and 0.63 for the stations Kota Bharu, Senai, Cameron highlands and KLIA, respectively). We selected four areas in the Peninsular Malaysia and they are south coastal, east coastal, west coastal and highland regions. Diurnal variation of frequency of rain occurrence is different for different locations. We noticed bimodal variation in the coastal areas in most of the seasons and unimodal variation in the highland/inland area. During the southwest monsoon period in the west coastal stations, there is no distinct diurnal variation. The distribution of different intensity classes during different seasons are explained in detail in the results. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Rainfall intensity, Diurnal variation, Seasonal characteristics, Relative contribution
Publication Title
Journal of Hydrology
Volume
387
Issue
3-4
Publisher
Elsevier
Publisher Location
PO BOX 211, 1000 AE AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS