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Urban intensification of convective rainfall over the Singapore – Johor Bahru region
Corresponding Author
Andres Simón-Moral
Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore
TECNALIA, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Spain
Correspondence
A. Simon-Moral, Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Email: [email protected]
Contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorAnurag Dipankar
Centre for Climate Research Singapore, Meteorological Service Singapore, Singapore
Contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorQuang-Van Doan
Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
Contribution: Validation, Visualization
Search for more papers by this authorClaudio Sanchez
MetOffice@Reading, Reading, UK
Contribution: Resources, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorMatthias Roth
Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Resources, Supervision, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorErik Becker
Centre for Climate Research Singapore, Meteorological Service Singapore, Singapore
Contribution: Data curation, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorXiang-Yu Huang
Centre for Climate Research Singapore, Meteorological Service Singapore, Singapore
Institute of Urban Meteorology, CMA, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Andres Simón-Moral
Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore
TECNALIA, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Spain
Correspondence
A. Simon-Moral, Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Email: [email protected]
Contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorAnurag Dipankar
Centre for Climate Research Singapore, Meteorological Service Singapore, Singapore
Contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorQuang-Van Doan
Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
Contribution: Validation, Visualization
Search for more papers by this authorClaudio Sanchez
MetOffice@Reading, Reading, UK
Contribution: Resources, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorMatthias Roth
Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Contribution: Funding acquisition, Resources, Supervision, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorErik Becker
Centre for Climate Research Singapore, Meteorological Service Singapore, Singapore
Contribution: Data curation, Writing - review & editing
Search for more papers by this authorXiang-Yu Huang
Centre for Climate Research Singapore, Meteorological Service Singapore, Singapore
Institute of Urban Meteorology, CMA, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Simulations of five November months (2010–2014) using the urban version of the numerical weather prediction system of the Meteorological Service Singapore (uSINGV) are used to analyse the urban effect on convective precipitation over Singapore and Johor Bahru (Malaysia). The model is able to closely predict locations where rainfall peaks occur, but rainfall totals are overestimated compared to radar data. The temporal variability of rainfall in the region shows that urban areas increase the frequency and severity of rainfall events and that such impact increases with the rainfall intensity. Results show that low-level moisture advection is enhanced in this coastal conurbation as a result of the strengthening of wind convergence. The latter is likely caused by increasing sea-breeze strength due to lower surface pressure over the urban area, and higher urban surface roughness, respectively. As a consequence, more precipitable water is available in the region, enhancing convection and increasing the probability of heavy rainfall over the centre and north of Singapore island and Johor Bahru. Stronger convection further increases moisture advection from the vicinity. By studying the temporal variability and the spatial distribution of rainfall events, the present study provides new insights on the urban impact on heavy rainfall in tropical areas. The conclusions are only valid for the November inter-monsoon period, when local forcing, rather than large-scale influences, dominates rainfall generation.
Supporting Information
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