Precipitation Characteristics at Different Developmental Stages of the Tibetan Plateau Vortex in July 2021 Based on GPM-DPR Data
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsComments on the manuscript “Precipitation Characteristics at Different Development Stages of the Tibetan Plateau Vortex Based on GPM-DPR Data” by Bingyun Yang, Suling Ren, Xi Wang, and Ning Niu.
Major comments/suggestions:
1. I suggest dividing the Materials and Methods section into 2.1 Data or Materials and 2.2. Methods.
2. In the Discussion, the authors need to highlight the limitations of the satellite-derived precipitation products they used. Also, I understand the limitations in terms of ground observations in the TP, but adding how GPM-DPR and FY-3G compare at least with some station data would be good. I wonder, for example, did the authors use the gauge precipitation only to plot Figure 2? The authors do not mention anything about the other data they mentioned in the Data and Methods section, including precipitation from ground stations and ERA5. I suggest expanding the discussion to include and explain the aforementioned details.
3. What does the authors mean by “precipitation cloud”? Do they mean the storm cloud field? I suggest a thorough revision of the technical jargon the authors used.
Minor (specific) comments/suggestions:
L19. Change “cloud” to “clouds”
L23. “...around 1 and 33 mm,...”
L25. “...of convective clouds”
L26-27. “Particularly, at 01:00 on July 12th...”
In general, change convective cloud to convective clouds.
L40-41. “...ground-based, upper-air, and satellite observations, and...”
L45. “...accuracy of the numerical model data...”
L47-48. Change researches to research.
L60. I think TRMM is not working anymore. Replace “can observe” with “observed”
L70. Delete “depth”
L105. “It provides...”
L125-126. “...ERA5 data has been effectively applied...”
L139. “...southern Gansu, as seen from...”
L142. “...As a result of the TPV system...”
L166. “...characteristics of the cloud system...”
Figure 5. Is this figure created using ERA5 data? It might be good to mention the data source to make these graphs in the figure’s caption.
L213. “...in the study regions are used to characterize...”
L214. “At 04:00 on July 9th...”
L226-227. “As the TPV subsequently moved northeastward, covering Shaanxi, Shanxi,...”
L257. “in July 9th”
L259. As in L257.
L266. “At 02:00 on July 11th” (the same suggestion for the entire manuscript).
Figure 7: The font sizes of this Figure might be too small for some readers. I think the authors can increase the font size without affecting the Figure.
L286. “To further access the occurrence...” To further assess?
L288. “of Ze, Dm, and dBNw, as well as an...”
L319. “(Figure 9a,d,g,j)”
L326. Same as in L319.
L346. “...observations for assessing TPV precipitation...”
L349. “...storms associated with TPV...”
Comments on the Quality of English Language
3. What does the authors mean by “precipitation cloud”? Do they mean the storm cloud field? I suggest a thorough revision of the technical jargon the authors used.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer #1:
Thanks for your comments on our paper. We have revised our paper according to your comments.
Major comments/suggestions:
- I suggest dividing the Materials and Methods section into 2.1 Data or Materials and 2.2. Methods.
Response: Thanks for suggestion. The section 2 was divided into 2.1 Data and 2.2. Methods.
- In the Discussion, the authors need to highlight the limitations of the satellite-derived precipitation products they used. Also, I understand the limitations in terms of ground observations in the TP, but adding how GPM-DPR and FY-3G compare at least with some station data would be good. I wonder, for example, did the authors use the gauge precipitation only to plot Figure 2? The authors do not mention anything about the other data they mentioned in the Data and Methods section, including precipitation from ground stations and ERA5. I suggest expanding the discussion to include and explain the aforementioned details.
Response: According to the suggestion, the limitations were added in the discussion section, as:” It was important to know the uncertainties in this study. Since GPM-DPR precipitation rate and DSD properties were retrieved from Ze, the accuracy of these data was deeply affected by parameter measurements and data processing such as attenuation correction and retrieval models [23-24, 49]. Furthermore, as the areas captured by GPM-DPR were parts of the TPV precipitation at the four stages, certain limitations were remained inevitably. To address that, the GPM-DPR precipitation rate should be estimated by ground-observations and reanalysis data. The distributions of GPM-DPR near-surface precipitation rate, ERA5 hourly precipitation rate and hourly gauge precipitation rate at the four stages were shown in Figure 10. As GPM-DPR precipitation rate was an instantaneous value while ERA5 and gauge precipitation rate was an hourly averaged value, the precipitation areas of the three products were relatively consistent but the intensities were different. The values of gauge and era5 precipitation were higher in general than that of DPR. In the first two periods, the values of gauge and ERA5 were higher than that of DPR. In the last two periods, the values of DPR and gauge are closer, while the values of ERA5 was significantly higher. In the future, the variables of GPM-DPR products such as precipitation rate, Ze, Dm, dBNw and cloud water content should be estimated by ground-based measurements from rain gauge or radars.”
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Figure 10. Horizontal distributions of (a, d, g, j) GPM-DPR near-surface precipitation rate (mm·h-1), (b, e, h, k) hourly gauge precipitation rate(mm·h-1), (c, f, I, l) ERA5 hourly precipitation rate(mm·h-1). The paralleled black lines represent the boundaries of GPM/DPR scanning path at 04:00 on July 9th. (a-c) 04:00 on July 9th, (d-f) 17:00 on July 9th, (g-i) 02:00 on July 11th and (j-l) 01:00 on July 12th.
- What does the authors mean by “precipitation cloud”? Do they mean the storm cloud field? I suggest a thorough revision of the technical jargon the authors used.
Response: Thanks for suggestion. The “precipitation cloud” in the manuscript meant cloud system which referred to a large cloud complex consisting of multiple cloud layers and cloud clusters associated with the TPV. According to the suggestion, “precipitation cloud” was thoroughly changed to “cloud system” in the revised version.
Minor (specific) comments/suggestions:
L19. Change “cloud” to “clouds”
Response: According to the suggestion, “stratiform cloud” was changed to “stratiform clouds” in the entire manuscript.
L23. “...around 1 and 33 mm,...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “while Dm and dBNw occurred at around 1 mm and 33, respectively” was changed to “while Dm and dBNw occurred at around 1 mm and 33 mm-1·m-3, respectively”.
L25. “...of convective clouds”
Response: According to the suggestion, “convective cloud” was changed to “convective clouds” in the entire manuscript.
L26-27. “Particularly, at 01:00 on July 12th...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “Particularly, at 01:00 on the 12th...” was changed to “Particularly, at 01:00 on July 12th...” in the entire manuscript.
In general, change convective cloud to convective clouds.
Response: According to the suggestion, “convective cloud” was changed to “convective clouds” and “stratiform cloud” was changed to “stratiform clouds” in the entire manuscript.
L40-41. “...ground-based, upper-air, and satellite observations, and...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “...ground-based observations, upper-air observations, satellite observations and numerical model data” was changed to “...ground-based, upper-air, and satellite observations, and numerical model data”.
L45. “...accuracy of the numerical model data...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “...accuracy of numerical model data...” was changed to “...accuracy of the numerical model data...”.
L47-48. Change researches to research.
Response: According to the suggestion, “... the advantages of researches based on satellite remote sensing data have become evident...” was changed to “... the advantages of research based on satellite remote sensing data has become evident...”.
L60. I think TRMM is not working anymore. Replace “can observe” with “observed”
Response: According to the suggestion, “can observe” was changed to “observed”.
L70. Delete “depth”
Response: According to the suggestion, “depth” was deleted in this sentence.
L105. “It provides...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “It can provide” was changed to “It provides”.
L125-126. “...ERA5 data has been effectively applied...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “...ERA5 data was effectively applied…” was changed to “...ERA5 data has been effectively applied...”.
L139. “...southern Gansu, as seen from...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “...southern Gansu, seen from...” was changed to “...southern Gansu, as seen from...”.
L142. “...As a result of the TPV system...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “…Affected by the TPV cloud system…” was changed to “...As a result of the TPV system...”.
L166. “...characteristics of the cloud system...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “…characteristics of cloud system…” was changed to “...characteristics of the cloud system...”.
Figure 5. Is this figure created using ERA5 data? It might be good to mention the data source to make these graphs in the figure’s caption.
Response: According to the suggestion, “of ERA5 data” was added in the figure’s captions of Figure 3-5.
L213. “...in the study regions are used to characterize...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “…were shown to characterize...” was changed to “…were used to characterize...”.
L214. “At 04:00 on July 9th...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “…on the...” was changed to “…on July...” in the entire manuscript.
L226-227. “As the TPV subsequently moved northeastward, covering Shaanxi, Shanxi, ...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “As the TPV subsequently moved northeastward, the precipitation cloud was located in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Hubei…” was changed to “As the TPV subsequently moved northeastward, covering Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Hubei…”.
L257. “in July 9th”
Response: According to the suggestion, “on the 9th” was changed to “on July 9th” in the entire manuscript.
L259. As in L257.
Response: According to the suggestion, “on the 9th” was changed to “on July 9th” in the entire manuscript.
L266. “At 02:00 on July 11th” (the same suggestion for the entire manuscript).
Response: According to the suggestion, “…on the...” was changed to “…on July...” in the entire manuscript.
Figure 7: The font sizes of this Figure might be too small for some readers. I think the authors can increase the font size without affecting the Figure.
Response: Thanks for suggestion. The font sizes of Figure 7 were increased in the revised manuscript.
L286. “To further access the occurrence...” To further assess?
Response: According to the suggestion, “To further access the occurrence...” was changed to “To further assess the occurrence...”.
L288. “of Ze, Dm, and dBNw, as well as an...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “…of Ze, Dm and dBNw as well as an…” was changed to “…of Ze, Dm and dBNw, as well as an…”.
L319. “(Figure 9a,d,g,j)”
Response: According to the suggestion, “(Figure 9a, 9d, 9g, 9j)” was changed to “(Figure 9a, d, g, j)”.
L326. Same as in L319.
Response: According to the suggestion, “(Figure 9b, 9e, 9h, 9k)” was changed to “(Figure 9b, e, h, k)”, and “(Figure 9c, 9f, 9i, 9l)” was replaced with “(Figure 9c, f, i, l)”
L346. “...observations for assessing TPV precipitation...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “…observations for TPV precipitation…” was changed to “...observations for assessing TPV precipitation...”.
L349. “...storms associated with TPV...”
Response: According to the suggestion, “…observations of typical TPV precipitation systems…” was changed to “…observations of storms associated with TPV…”.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors provide a novel study to reveal the precipitation characteristics during the evolutions of a Tibetan plateau vortex based on satellite and reanalysis data sets. However, I found it is a little difficult for readers to capture the descriptions without knowing the locations of many provinces in China. I recommend a major review this time, please find my specific comments below:
Major comments:
1. The paper lacks of the error analysis of the satellite observational data sets, please add the discussions, e.g., uncertainties in the parameter measurements and data processing.
2. Line 143: How can you only attribute the heavy precipitation in these provinces to the movement of the TPV? How about other factors, e.g., any in situ variations or vortices from other regions?
3. Figure 2: It is better to mark out the provinces that you describe since Line 145, the readers did not know where those provinces are located. At least, using SC, SX and HB as a short name in the Figure is better.
4. Figures 3 & 4 & 6: It is very difficult for me to follow the descriptions among those unfamiliar regions. Please try to label out the Sichuan, Shanxi, Henan and those regions in Line 181. Another way is to introduce them by giving their positions (latitudes and longitudes).
Minor concerns:
1. Please add the time of the TPV development in the title (July 2021), indicating the present study is a case study.
2. Why you choose the case on July 8-13, 2021 to generate the present study? How about other cases? Is this case more representative than others? Or does it have any particularity?
3. Line 148: Shaanxi: might be a typo
4. I suggest to combine the section 4 and section 5 to a new section: “4. Discussions and Conclusions”
Author Response
Response to Reviewer #2:
Thanks for your comments on our paper. We have revised our paper according to your comments.
Major comments:
- The paper lacks of the error analysis of the satellite observational data sets, please add the discussions, e.g., uncertainties in the parameter measurements and data processing.
Response: According to the suggestion, the error analysis was added in the discussion section, as:” It was important to know the uncertainties in this study. Since GPM-DPR precipitation rate and DSD properties were retrieved from Ze, the accuracy of these data was deeply affected by parameter measurements and data processing such as attenuation correction and retrieval models [23-24, 49]. Furthermore, as the areas captured by GPM-DPR were parts of the TPV precipitation at the four stages, certain limitations were remained inevitably. To address that, the GPM-DPR precipitation rate should be estimated by ground-observations and reanalysis data. The distributions of GPM-DPR near-surface precipitation rate, ERA5 hourly precipitation rate and hourly gauge precipitation rate at the four stages were shown in Figure 10. As GPM-DPR precipitation rate was an instantaneous value while ERA5 and gauge precipitation rate was an hourly averaged value, the precipitation areas of the three products were relatively consistent but the intensities were different. The values of gauge and era5 precipitation were higher in general than that of DPR. In the first two periods, the values of gauge and ERA5 were higher than that of DPR. In the last two periods, the values of DPR and gauge are closer, while the values of ERA5 was significantly higher. In the future, the variables of GPM-DPR products such as precipitation rate, Ze, Dm, dBNw and cloud water content should be estimated by ground-based measurements from rain gauge or radars.”
Figure 10. Horizontal distributions of (a, d, g, j) GPM-DPR near-surface precipitation rate (mm·h-1), (b, e, h, k) hourly gauge precipitation rate(mm·h-1), (c, f, I, l) ERA5 hourly precipitation rate(mm·h-1). The paralleled black lines represent the boundaries of GPM/DPR scanning path at 04:00 on July 9th. (a-c) 04:00 on July 9th, (d-f) 17:00 on July 9th, (g-i) 02:00 on July 11th and (j-l) 01:00 on July 12th.
- Line 143: How can you only attribute the heavy precipitation in these provinces to the movement of the TPV? How about other factors, e.g., any in situ variations or vortices from other regions?
Response: Thanks for suggestion. TPV is defined as a low-pressure system on the 500 hPa geopotential height field but it does not exist alone. Its own development and the eastward moving is also affected by many other systems, such as shear line and Southwest Vortex in the lower troposphere (Chen et al., 2012). Of course, the heavy precipitation in these provinces might be attributed to the multi-system interaction. In our case on July 8-13, 2021, the TPV cloud systems at different development stages were located on the southeast side of the TP, which exhibit closed contours and a cyclonic circulation pattern in wind direction at 500 hPa. The movement of heavy precipitation areas was consistent with the movement of the TPV. Therefore, it was accepted that the TPV was the main influence system. The brightness temperature of FY-4A/AGRI 10.8 µm channel (shading, K) with 500 hPa geopotential height (contours,10 gpm) and wind field of ERA5 data at 12:00 on July 8th to 18:00 on July 12th was demonstrated in the figure below.
Figure. The brightness temperature of FY-4A/AGRI 10.8 µm channel (shading, K) with 500 hPa geopotential height (contours,10 gpm) and wind field of ERA5 data at 12:00 on July 8th to 18:00 on July 12th. The time interval was 6 h.
Chen, G; Li, G; Li, Y. The Research Progress of the Tibetan Plateau Vortex in Recent Twenty Years. Advances in Meteorological Science and Technology. 2012, 2, 6-12. (in Chinese) [https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.2095-1973.2012.02.001]
- Figure 2: It is better to mark out the provinces that you describe since Line 145, the readers did not know where those provinces are located. At least, using SC, SX and HB as a short name in the Figure is better.
Response: According to the suggestion, the names of the provinces mentioned in the context were added in Figure 1 and Figure 2 in the revised manuscript.
- Figures 3 & 4 & 6: It is very difficult for me to follow the descriptions among those unfamiliar regions. Please try to label out the Sichuan, Shanxi, Henan and those regions in Line 181. Another way is to introduce them by giving their positions (latitudes and longitudes).
Response: According to the suggestion, the provinces mentioned in the entire manuscript were labeled out in Figure 3 & 4 & 6.
Minor concerns:
- Please add the time of the TPV development in the title (July 2021), indicating the present study is a case study.
Response: According to the suggestion, “July 2021” was added in the title of the revised manuscript. The new title was “Precipitation Characteristics at Different Development Stages of the Tibetan Plateau Vortex in July 2021 Based on GPM-DPR Data”.
- Why you choose the case on July 8-13, 2021 to generate the present study? How about other cases? Is this case more representative than others? Or does it have any particularity?
Response: Thanks for suggestion. There are two reasons for choosing the case of TPV on July 8-13,2021. First, this TPV had a very long life history so that the GPM-DPR could capture more development stages of the cloud system at different geographical regions. Second, most of the TPVs generated on the west part of the TP and disappeared on the east part of the TP. Few of them could move off the TP under favorable circulation conditions and cause large-scale rainstorm, thunderstorm and other disastrous weather processes in the downstream areas. This TPV on July 8-13, 2021 brought heavy precipitation and severe convective weather to many provinces such as Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Shandong.
The descriptions were presented in the introduction section of the revised manuscript, as:” Naturally, most TPVs generated on the west part of the TP and disappeared on the east part of the TP, but few of them can move off the TP under favorable circulation conditions and cause large-scale rainstorm, thunderstorm and other disastrous weather processes in the downstream areas. Up to date, there is still a lack of under-standing regarding precipitation characteristics of TPV in a long life history. During July 8-13, 2021, a TPV moved off TP across a wide coverage, and brought heavy precipitation and severe convective weather to many provinces in China including Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and Shandong, which could be accepted as a representative TPV case. Therefore, we analyzed the precipitation characteristics of this TPV during its eastward movement at different development stages, based on the detections from GPM-DPR and FY-4A satellite's Advanced Geosynchronous Radiation Imager (AGRI), as well as ERA5 reanalysis data, during July 8-13, 2021.”
- Line 148: Shaanxi: might be a typo.
Response: Thanks for suggestion. "Shaanxi" and “Shanxi" are two different provinces in China, representing the Chinese name of "陕西" and "山西", respectively. The different English spellings were used to distinguish them, which was generally used in other publications. Of course, according to the major comment, the names were added in figures to help better understand the expressions.
- I suggest to combine the section 4 and section 5 to a new section: “4. Discussions and Conclusions”
Response: Thanks for suggestion. The discussion section was enriched as the discussion of the comparison of our result or methods with other studies, error analysis and etc., according to the suggestion from reviewers. Given that, discussions and conclusions sections were proper separately in the revised version for better viewing the manuscript.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsPease see the attachment.
Comments for author File: Comments.docx
Author Response
Response to Reviewer #3:
Thanks for your comments on our paper. We have revised our paper according to your comments.
Major comments/suggestions:
- Page 2, lines 47-57: The sentences are these lines are irrelevant to the present manuscript. The authors are encouraged to detail about the TPV studies exist in the literature.
Response: Thanks for suggestion. After reviewing some publication about TPV studies, we added some details about the TPV studies exist in the literature and rearranged the introduction section, as:” In terms of TPV precipitation, Li et al. [5] showed that TPVs favored ascending motion to the east of the plateau, which was conducive to precipitation and the genesis of southwest vortices. Li et al. [6] found that the intense-rainfall-producing TPV often characterized by a notable upper-level divergence north of a strong upper-level jet and a strong middle-level warm advection ahead of a shortwave trough over the TP. Lin et al. [7] discovered that the extreme precipitation events associated with TPVs remarkably tended to occur near the center and the southeastern quadrant of TPVs…. Typically, Hu et al. [33] extracted the diurnal variation characteristics of precipitation over the TP and its surrounding areas using TRMM data. Xiang et al. [34] analyzed the heavy precipitation processes caused by TPVs based on TRMM data, and high-lighted that the stratiform precipitation clouds with a higher fraction of area fostered a comparable ratio of contribution to the total precipitation and a much lower precipitation rate compared with the convective precipitation clouds. Wei et al. [35] investigated a heavy precipitation process caused by a TPV in the Northwest region based on GPM, and concluded that the contribution of convective rainfall to the total precipitation reached 75% and the droplet spectrum and cloud particle radius in convective clouds differed widely.”
- The introduction lacks in providing the importance of the present work.
Response: Thanks for suggestion. With the improvement of satellite observation capabilities, satellite data have fostered the researches on Tibetan Plateau vortex (TPV), like TRMM, GPM, and etc. Up to date, the three-dimensional characteristics of precipitation at different development stages of TPV are rarely mentioned. Moreover, most TPVs generated on the west part of the TP and disappeared on the east part of the TP, but few of them can move off the TP under favorable circulation conditions and cause large-scale rainstorm, thunderstorm and other disastrous weather processes in the downstream areas. However, there is still a lack of understanding regarding precipitation characteristics of TPV in a long life history. Therefore, it is important to distill the precipitation characteristics of a TPV in a long life history during its eastward movement at different development stages. These were the importance of the present work.
According to the suggestion, the expressions related to the importance of the present work was provided in the introduction section, as:”......the three-dimensional characteristics of precipitation at different development stages of TPV are rarely mentioned...... Naturally, most TPVs generated on the west part of the TP and disappeared on the east part of the TP, but few of them can move off the TP under favorable circulation conditions and cause large-scale rainstorm, thunderstorm and other disastrous weather processes in the downstream areas. Up to date, there is still a lack of under-standing regarding precipitation characteristics of TPV in a long life history. During July 8-13, 2021, a TPV moved off TP across a wide coverage, and brought heavy precipitation and severe convective weather to many provinces in China including Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and Shandong, which could be accepted as a representative TPV case. Therefore, we analyzed the precipitation characteristics of this TPV during its eastward movement at different development stages, based on the detections from GPM-DPR and FY-4A satellite's Advanced Geosynchronous Radiation Imager (AGRI), as well as ERA5 reanalysis data, during July 8-13, 2021.”
- The authors are encouraged to provide detailed objectives and their implications in the introduction section.
Response: Thanks for suggestion. The objectives and their implications were added in the introduction section, as:” The objectives of the current work are (1) to trace the TPV event and extract the evolutionary characteristics of corresponding cloud system; (2) to capture the horizontal and vertical structural features of the TPV precipitation at different developing stages in different geographical regions. Acknowledging the variation in structure and characteristics of the precipitation during the movement of the TPV have important implications for better understanding the cloud precipitation mechanisms.”
- The manuscript completely lacks in providing the GPM DPR background with adequate references. Hence, the authors are strongly encouraged to detail about the GPM DPR. Some of the references related to GPM DPR are provided below.
Response: Thanks for suggestion. In the introduction section, we added the GPM DPR background as:” The GPM Core Observatory satellite was launched on February 27, 2014, carrying the first space borne Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), operating at Ku and Ka bands (13 and 35 GHz, respectively) for active remote sensing, and a conical-scanning GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) for high-resolution, multi-channel (10–183 GHz) passive remote sensing [17]. It not only expands the observation range to 65°S-65°N but also further enhances the observation capabilities for light-intensity precipitation (less than 0.5 mm·h-1) and solid precipitation, which accounts for a significant fraction of precipitation occurrence in the middle and high latitudes [18-19]. In particular, the DPR and GMI measurements will construct a unique observational database by quantifying the microphysical properties of precipitating particles [20-21].”
In the 2.1 Data section, we added the description of GPM_2ADPR product as:” The GPM DPR is a dual-frequency precipitation radar at both Ku-band (13.6 GHz) and Ka-band (35.5 GHz). In this study, we utilized the V07 version of the GPM_2ADPR product, which is the first standard product to account for the Ka-band Precipitation Radar scan pattern changes implemented on May 21, 2018. This change allows for a more accurate precipitation estimation method for dual frequency radar, which is implemented to improve the detectability of precipitation signals and the detection of weak, horizontally distributed precipitation that occurs at high-latitudes [36]. The GPM_2ADPR products contained Full-Swath (FS) format data with a vertical resolution of 125 m and High-Sensitivity (HS) format data with a vertical resolution of 500 m, and the spatial resolution at the nadir is about 5 km…. The retrievals of DSD, rain type classification and precipitation variables can be seen in the previous studies [37-41].”
Awaka, J., M. Le, S. Brodzik, T. Kubota, T. Masaki, V. Chandrasekar, and T. Iguchi (2021), Development of Precipitation Type Classification Algorithms for a Full Scan Mode of GPM Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar, Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II, doi:10.2151/jmsj.2021-061.
Awaka, J., M. Le, V. Chandrasekar, N. Yoshida, T. Higashiuwatoko, T. Kubota, and T. Iguchi (2016), Rain Type Classification Algorithm Module for GPM Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 33(9), 1887-1898, doi:10.1175/jtech-d-16-0016.1.
Chandrasekar, V., M. Le, and J. Awaka (2014), Vertical profile classification algorithm for GPM, paper presented at 2014 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, IEEE, 2014-07-01.
Hou, A. Y., R. K. Kakar, S. Neeck, A. A. Azarbarzin, C. D. Kummerow, M. Kojima, R. Oki, K. Nakamura, and T. Iguchi (2014), The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 95(5), 701-722, doi:https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00164.1.
Iguchi, T., S. Seto, R. Meneghini, N. Yoshida, J. Awaka, M. Le, V. Chandrasekar, and T. Kubota (2010), GPM/DPR level-2 algorithm theoretical basis document, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Meneghini, R., L. Liao, and T. Iguchi (2022), A Generalized Dual-Frequency Ratio (DFR) Approach for Rain Retrievals, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, doi:10.1175/jtech-d-22-0002.1.
Seto, S., T. Iguchi, R. Meneghini, J. Awaka, T. Kubota, T. Masaki, and N. Takahashi (2021), The Precipitation Rate Retrieval Algorithms for the GPM Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar, Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II, 99(2), 205-237, doi:10.2151/jmsj.2021-011.
Skofronick-Jackson, G., et al. (2017), The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission for Science and Society, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 98(8), 1679-1695, doi:10.1175/bams-d-15-00306.1.
Skofronick‐Jackson, G., D. Kirschbaum, W. Petersen, G. Huffman, C. Kidd, E. Stocker, and R. Kakar (2018), The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's scientific achievements and societal contributions: reviewing four years of advanced rain and snow observations, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 144(S1), 27-48, doi:10.1002/qj.3313.
Hou, A. Y., and Coauthors, 2014: The Global Precipitation Measurement mission. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 95, 701–722, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00164.1.
- While discussing the results of the present study, the authors are strongly encouraged to compare and discuss previous studies using GPM DPR (some of them are mentioned below for authors reference).
Response: Thanks for suggestion. We have added previous studies using GPM DPR in the discussion section in the revised manuscript, as:” In the analysis of vertical characteristics of precipitation for stratiform and convective clouds, we discovered that the Dm and rain rate of convective clouds decreased from the melting layer to about 3 km, while that of stratiform clouds slightly increased. Besides, the dBNw of convective clouds increased more evidently with the descending altitude than that of stratiform clouds. This was in line with the findings of Janapati et al. [48], who inferred that a decrease in Dm and increase in dBNw in the warm rain regions hinted at the dominance of collision-breakup processes in the convective precipitation, while a slight increase in Dm with not much variation in dBNw brought up the equilibrium condition among collision-coalescence and breakup processes in the stratiform precipitation. Therefore, the studies regarding the microphysical processes within the TPV clouds would deserve to be explored further in depth.
In the perspective of quick development and increasing accuracy in remote sensing techniques, multi-source data fusion was particularly worth considering. The joint application of active and passive satellite remote sensing observations, ground-based measurements, and reanalysis data has great potential for researches on TPV systems. For example, the GMI data can be used jointly with GPM-DPR data at the same orbit time in our future studies. Since GMI has a wider swath (approximately 904 km) than DPR, the ice water path of the sampling column and near-surface precipitation in larger areas can be denoted based on the GMI brightness temperature data. Chen et al. [24, 32] defined PCT89 as 1.818 × T89v − 0.818T89h, where T89v and T89h were the vertically and horizontally polarized brightness temperature at 89 GHz, respectively. More intense rainfall and a stronger ice scattering signal (as indicated by low PCT89) was discovered near the center of the tropical cyclone.”
Chen, F., X. Zheng, H. Wen, and Y. Yuan (2022a), Microphysics of Convective and Stratiform Precipitation during the Summer Monsoon Season over the Yangtze–Huaihe RiverValley, China, Journal of Hydrometeorology, 23(2), 239-252, doi:10.1175/jhm-d-21-0078.1.
Chen, F., X. Zheng, L. Yu, H. Wen, and Y. Liu (2023), Precipitation, microphysical and environmental characteristics for shallow and deep clouds over Yangtze-Huaihe River Basin, Atmospheric Research, 107155, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2023.107155.
Janapati, J., B. K. Seela, and P.-L. Lin (2023), Regional discrepancies in the microphysical attributes of summer season rainfall over Taiwan using GPM DPR, Scientific Reports, 13(1), 12118, doi:10.1038/s41598-023-38245-z.
Huang, H., and F. Chen (2019), Precipitation Microphysics of Tropical Cyclones Over the Western North Pacific Based on GPM DPR Observations: A Preliminary Analysis, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124(6), 3124-3142, doi:10.1029/2018jd029454.
Chen, F., Y. Fu, and Y. Yang (2019), Regional Variability of Precipitation in Tropical Cyclones Over the Western North Pacific Revealed by the GPM Dual‐Frequency Precipitation Radar and Microwave Imager, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124(21), 11281-11296, doi:10.1029/2019jd031075.
Minor (specific) comments/suggestions:
- Throughout the manuscript, the author should update all the physical parameters symbols to italic (for ex: Dmà Dm).
Response: According to the suggestion, all the physical parameters symbols were changed to italic in the revised manuscript.
- The authors should keep a space between the units and their numeric value.
Response: According to the suggestion, we have kept a space between the unit and their numeric value in the revised manuscript.
- For more visibility, the authors can reduce the x-axis limits of Fig.9.
Response: According to the suggestion, the x-axis limits of Fig.9 were reduced in the revised manuscript.
- The authors are encouraged to increase the font size axis labels and legends of all figures in the manuscript.
Response: According to the suggestion, the font size axis labels and legends of all figures were increased in the revised manuscript.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors have addressed my suggestions and concerns. This version is significantly improved, and I suggest accepting it for publication.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors have addressed my comments well and the paper is better to be published.
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors addressed all my comments and it can be published in its present form.
