Tropical precipitation studies using a 915‐MHz wind profiler

Precipitation echoes obtained with 915‐MHz wind profilers operated in the tropics provide useful information on the structure of precipitating cloud systems. This paper examines the sensitivity of the 915‐MHz profiler to precipitation. Observations of precipitation echoes at Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, illustrate profiler performance capabilities for observing several types of tropical convective systems. Special attention is given to the occurrence of deep precipitating clouds which are often present without rain at the surface. Analyses of profiler data from Manus Island show that over a 10‐month period, deep precipitating clouds were present more than 25% of the time. The importance of the deep precipitating clouds to the heat budget of the tropical atmosphere is briefly discussed.