Moisture sources of an extreme precipitation event in Sichuan, China, based on the Lagrangian method

In July 2013, an extreme precipitation event occurred in Sichuan, China, causing severe flooding, debris flows, and substantial losses. Moisture sources and transport of this event and quantification of the contribution from moisture sources were studied using the Lagrangian method. The results show that the vast majority of particles influencing this event originated from the relatively lower troposphere south of the precipitation region and can be traced back to the Arabian Sea. Moreover, the total moisture from the source regions accounts for more than 80% of the precipitation; moisture originating from the India Peninsula-Bay of Bengal-Indo-China Peninsula region had the highest contribution.