Seasonal variations in the occurrence frequency, vertical location, and radar reflectivity factor (dBZ) of hydrometeors covering eastern China and the Indian monsoon region are described using two CloudSat standard products [Geometrical Profiling Product (GEOPROF) and GEOPROF-lidar] during the period July 2006–August 2007. The 14-month averaged hydrometeor occurrence frequency is 80% (for eastern China) and 70% (for Indian region), respectively, to which multilayer (mostly double or triple layers) hydrometeors contribute 37% and 47%. A significant increase in the multilayer hydrometeor amount from winter to summer in the Indian region causes a pronounced seasonal variation in its total hydrometeor amount. The nearly opposite phases in the seasonal variations of single- and multilayer hydrometeor amounts result in little change with season in total hydrometeor amount in eastern China. Although the passive sensor-based satellite cloud product is able to provide the major seasonal features in the hydrometeor occurrence frequency (HOF) as revealed by the CloudSat/Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) product, it generally underestimates the HOF.

The maxima in the amounts of both high-level and thick hydrometeor layers occur during summer in both regions, reflecting the impact of the Asian summer monsoon. The abundance of low-level cloud layers and scarcity of hydrometeors at higher levels in eastern China during autumn to winter reflect the general subsidence motion in the middle and upper troposphere. The hydrometeors are geometrically thin in both regions. Cirrus containing small ice crystals is the most common cloud type in the Indian region over the year, while the eastern China hydrometeors are located lower and distributed more evenly in the dBZ–altitude phase space. Although the Indian region has deeper convection and more anvils than eastern China during summer, the averaged dBZ–altitude distributions of deep convection and anvils are nearly identical between the two regions.