Diurnal Cycle of Wind Speed and Precipitation Over the Northern Australia Coastal Region: CYGNSS Observations

The diurnal cycle of precipitation and its associated land-sea breeze circulation over coastal northern Australia are investigated using surface wind speed and enthalpy (latent and sensible heat) fluxes from the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System. Composite results during the austral summer of 2018–2022 show that diurnal precipitation propagates westward from the Cape York Peninsula into the Gulf of Carpentaria. The diurnal cycle of precipitation and surface wind speed are strongly coupled, with the wind speed maximum slightly leading the precipitation maximum. Additionally, analysis of the moist static energy budget shows that surface fluxes help support the westward-propagation of diurnal precipitation. These results—based on novel satellite data and reanalysis—are consistent with previous studies that have examined the impact of the land-sea breeze on the diurnal cycle of precipitation. The results provide a benchmark for model representation of this important atmosphere-ocean-land interaction.