A new dataset of Mesoscale Convective Complexes (MCC) derived from FY-2G satellite data

Abstract. Mesoscale Convective Complexes (MCCs) are major convective weather systems occurring in midlatitude regions, typically associated with significant weather phenomena such as heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, strong winds, and hail. Based on the cloud-top temperature (CTT) data of the FY-2G satellite, and through multi-threshold screening combined with morphological analysis, an automated algorithm for MCC identification and tracking was developed. The algorithm is then applied to generate an hourly dataset of MCC variables over mainland China from June 2015 to December 2024. The dataset encompasses variables describing the spatial extent of the cold-core region (CTT < −52 °C) of MCCs, the minimum cloud-top temperature within the cold cloud shields, and the geographic coordinates (longitude and latitude) of the centroids of the cold cloud shields. This work also conducts a preliminary analysis of the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of MCCs over mainland China based on the dataset. Results indicate that MCCs occur more frequently in Southwest China than in other regions of the country, and over 70 % of MCC events occur in summer both in Southwest China and mainland China as a whole. Moreover, MCC frequency in Southwest China exhibits significant interannual variability. The dataset is publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17349888 (Xu, 2025).