Anomalies in relative humidity profile in the boundary layer during convective rain.

Radiometric observations of relative humidity profile at Kolkata show a significant fall at around 1 to 2 km height during convective rain events. An extensive investigation shows that the fall of relative humidity is not seen during calm conditions but is strongly related to the characteristics of temperature lapse rate profiles. Moreover, the phenomenon may have strong association with boundary layer structure. The reason for such anomalies in the planetary boundary layer humidity profile might be due to the release of latent heat at the mentioned altitude. The abundance of pollutant aerosols in urban regions has also been found to contribute to this relative humidity anomaly. It has also been reported that this boundary layer relative humidity is accompanied by high latent heat release and condensation of vapour to liquid which is not much prominent in other rain types as observed in stratiform rain. Hence, convective rain produces some unique boundary layer characteristics which have also been partially supported with allied satellite and multi-station observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]