Precipitation In The Tropics

Large scale moisture patterns subdevide the year-round tropics from perarid up to perhumid subzones, which are combined with different degrees of cloudiness (Fig. 1) with convective heap clouds being of most importance (Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5). A rather clear seasonal distribution of rainfall frequency and intensity (Fig. 7) governs the rythm of plant growth. Areas of highest precipitation amounts on the globe are concentrated on the inner parts of the tropics (Fig. 8), where thunderstorms are a typical feature of weather occurence. Long enduring droughts in wet as well as extraordinary rainfall intensities in arid regions are concentrated on distinct areas (Figs. 11 and 12). Most of the tropical high mounts show obvious "bulges" of enhanced rainfall rates at mid-elevations (Fig. 15).