A novel strategy by a combined use of multiple satellites for studying the interactions of the tropical atmosphere with moist convection

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It is crucial for understanding the physical mechanisms of squall-like heavy precipitation to study the atmospheric states favorable for the development of tropical cumulus convection and, conversely, the effects of convective activity on the atmospheric variability. In this work the short-term (or hourly) variability has been successfully delineated by exploiting an ensemble of various satellite instruments, which was considered before to be a difficult task. It is found that the atmospheric instability rapidly decreases as convection develops while recovering gradually after the convection ceases, and that the free-tropospheric moisture convergence is the primary factor that "fuels" heavy precipitation. These findings not only confirm the existing knowledge but led to some new insights into tropical meteorology.