Retrieval of convective available potential energy from INSAT-3D measurements: comparison with radiosonde data and their spatial–temporal variations

Abstract

Convective available potential energy (CAPE) is a measure of the amount of energy available for convection in the atmosphere. The satellite-derived data over the ocean and land are used for a better understanding of the atmospheric stability indices. In this work, an attempt is made for the first time to estimate CAPE from high spatial and temporal resolution measurements of the INSAT-3D over the Indian region. The estimated CAPE from the INSAT-3D is comprehensively evaluated using radiosonde derived CAPE and ERA-Interim CAPE. The evaluation shows that the INSAT-3D CAPE reasonably correlated with the radiosonde derived CAPE; however, the magnitude of CAPE shows higher values. Further, the distribution of CAPE is studied for different instability conditions (different range of CAPE values) during different seasons over the Indian region. In addition, the diurnal and seasonal variability in CAPE is also investigated at different geographical locations to understand the spatial variability with respect to different terrains.