Increasing extent and intensity of thunderstorms observed over the Congo Basin from 1982 to 2016

Recent studies found a long-term drought and resulting declines in vegetation greenness and canopy water content over the Congo Basin, the second largest rainforest in the world after the Amazon. Since most precipitation in tropical latitudes stems from convection, this paper analyzed 35 years of high-resolution (8 km spatial resolution and 3 h temporal resolution) satellite data to document the long-term trends in the number, size and intensity of thunderstorms activity over the Congo Basin during April, May, and June (AMJ) for the period 1982-2016. Changes in the magnitude and area of cold cloud top brightness temperatures (Tb) at different thresholds were used as a proxy to quantify the number and size of individual thunderstorms at different intensities. We found that the areal extent and intensity of thunderstorms increased over the past 35 years, particularly over Northern Congo Basin, and these changes are consistent with other satellite datasets. Combined with a reanalysis dataset, our work suggests that thunderstorms over the Congo Basin are becoming taller and wider, and likely resulting in a moister (drier) upper (lower) troposphere.