Relationship between precipitation and cloud properties in different regions of Southwest China

Abstract The relationship between precipitation and cloud properties in Southwest China are investigated by using the CLARA‐A2 cloud parameters data and TRMM‐3B43 precipitation data from 1998 to 2015. Ice water path (IWP) and cloud top height (CTH) are significantly and positively correlated with precipitation in all regions, indicating that ice‐phase processes and cloud development processes are the critical processes influencing precipitation. Precipitation is also directly associated with cloud fractional coverage (CFC) due to the significant positive correlation between CFC and precipitation in all regions except the Sichuan Basin (SCB). A positive correlation between liquid water path (LWP) and precipitation is found in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau (ETP) and Yunnan‐Kweichow Plateau (YKP), but not in the Western Tibetan Plateau (WTP) and SCB. Notably, the response of precipitation to LWP is not as good as that to IWP in SCB. Precipitation is significantly negatively correlated with ice effective radius (IREF) in WTP and ETP and positively correlated with liquid effective radius (LREF) in ETP, YKP and SCB. IREF and LREF are closely related to cloud microphysical processes. Specifically, small IREF could accelerate the Bergeron process and thus increase precipitation, while large LREF is closely related to the cloud droplets coalescence process. Results indicate that the difference in precipitation between the cold and warm seasons is related to convective available potential energy (CAPE) and low troposphere relative humidity (RH). High CAPE and RH favour the precipitation occurrence in Southwest China. The influence of CAPE and RH on precipitation is more significant in the ETP than that in the WTP, owing to the orographic lifting and moisture transport from the Indian Ocean. Thermodynamic and humidity conditions have a greater impact on precipitation by influencing LREF, LWP and IWP in YKP. In SCB, precipitation shows a strong dependence on CAPE, IWP and LREF, but not on RH.