A daily gridded precipitation dataset covering a period of more than 57 yr was created by collecting and analyzing rain gauge observation data across Asia through the activities of the Asian Precipitation—Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water Resources (APHRODITE) project. APHRODITE's daily gridded precipitation is presently the only long-term, continental-scale, high-resolution daily product. The product is based on data collected at 5,000–12,000 stations, which represent 2.3–4.5 times the data made available through the Global Telecommunication System network and is used for most daily gridded precipitation products. Hence, the APHRODITE project has substantially improved the depiction of the areal distribution and variability of precipitation around the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, and mountainous regions of the Middle East. The APHRODITE project now contributes to studies such as the determination of Asian monsoon precipitation change, evaluation of water resources, verification of high-resolution model simulations and satellite precipitation estimates, and improvement of precipitation forecasts. The APHRODITE project carries out outreach activities with Asian countries, and communicates with national institutions and world data centers. We have released open-access APHRO_V1101 datasets for monsoon Asia, the Middle East, and northern Eurasia (at 0.5° × 0.5° and 0.25° × 0.25° resolution) and the APHRO_JP_V1005 dataset for Japan (at 0.05° × 0.05° resolution; see www.chikyu.ac.jp/precip/ and http://aphrodite.suiri.tsukuba.ac.jp/). We welcome cooperation and feedback from users.

Conventionally, the heaviest rainfall has been linked to the tallest, most intense convective storms. However, the global picture of the linkage between extreme rainfall and convection remains unclear. Here we analyse an 11-year record of spaceborne precipitation radar observations and establish that a relatively small fraction of extreme convective events produces extreme rainfall rates in any region of the tropics and subtropics. Robust differences between extreme rainfall and convective events are found in the rainfall characteristics and environmental conditions, irrespective of region; most extreme rainfall events are characterized by less intense convection with intense radar echoes not extending to extremely high altitudes. Rainfall characteristics and environmental conditions both indicate the importance of warm-rain processes in producing extreme rainfall rates. Our results demonstrate that, even in regions where severe convective storms are representative extreme weather events, the heaviest rainfall events are mostly associated with less intense convection.

This paper demonstrates the impact of the enhancement in detectability by the dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR) on board the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core observatory. By setting two minimum detectable reflectivities—12 and 18 dBZ—artificially to 6 months of GPM DPR measurements, the precipitation occurrence and volume increase by ~21.1% and ~1.9%, respectively, between 40°S and 40°N.GPM DPR is found to be able to detect light precipitation, which mainly consists of two distinct types. One type is shallow precipitation, which is most significant for convective precipitation over eastern parts of subtropical oceans, where deep convection is typically suppressed. The other type is probably associated with lower parts of anvil clouds associated with organized precipitation systems.While these echoes have lower reflectivities than the official value of the minimum detectable reflectivity, they are found to mostly consist of true precipitation signals, suggesting that the official value may be too conservative for some sort of meteorological analyses. These results are expected to further the understanding of both global energy and water budgets and the diabatic heating distribution.

A polarization lidar was continuously operated aboard the research vessel Mirai in the tropical western Pacific over three northern winters: at 2.0°N, 138.0°E during November and December 2001; at 2.0°N, 138.5°E during November and December 2002; and at 7.5°N, 134.0°E during December 2004 and January 2005. Intensive radiosonde soundings were made from the vessel at 3‐h intervals during all three campaigns. The mechanisms that underlie the observed variations in cirrus in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) are discussed from the viewpoint of large‐scale dynamics and transport. During the 2001 campaign, the tropopause region was cold, but the TTL was often clear, with only some subvisual cirrus. Potential vorticity data and trajectories show that the TTL during this period was strongly affected by dry air transport from the northern midlatitude lower stratosphere. During the 2002 campaign, a packet of large‐amplitude equatorial Kelvin waves was the primary control on the generation and disappearance of cirrus in the TTL. During the 2004–2005 campaign, a cold phase of large‐scale waves resulted in cirrus generation in the TTL in late December of 2004, similar to that observed during the 2002 campaign. Outflow from the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) caused optically thick cirrus in the TTL, particularly during early January 2005, when we also observed regular diurnal variations in cirrus development within the TTL, that is, apparent sedimentation during the nighttime. We investigated two possible controlling processes, namely, horizontal advection together with diurnal variations in convective activity within the SPCZ and diurnal variations in local temperature due to tides and gravity waves. In the equatorial western Pacific, equatorial Kelvin waves are the important dynamical process that controls cirrus variations in the TTL. Dry‐air horizontal transport from the midlatitude lower stratosphere and wet‐air vertical transport near the tropical convergence regions should also be considered in fully explaining the cirrus observations in the TTL.