Spatial and temporal variations in rainfall over Darwin and its vicinity during different large-scale environments

Abstract

This study analyses the regional variations in rainfall over Darwin and its vicinity due to different large-scale circulations during the Australian summer by utilizing the combination of in situ and C-band polarimetric radar rainfall data at hourly resolution. The eight phases of the Madden–Julian oscillation as defined by Wheeler and Hendon (Mon Weather Rev 132(8):1917–1932, 2004) were used as indicators of different large-scale environments. The analysis found that the large-scale forcing starts to build up from phase 4 by the reversal of low- to mid-level easterly winds to moist westerly winds, reaching a maximum in phase 5 and weakening through phases 6–7. During phases 4–6, most of the..