scholarly journals Intraseasonal and Interannual Variability of Extreme Dry and Wet Events over Southeastern South America and the Subtropical Atlantic during Austral Summer

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 1682-1699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel N. Muza ◽  
Leila M. V. Carvalho ◽  
Charles Jones ◽  
Brant Liebmann

Abstract Intraseasonal and interannual variability of extreme wet and dry anomalies over southeastern Brazil and the western subtropical South Atlantic Ocean are investigated. Precipitation data are obtained from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) in pentads during 23 austral summers (December–February 1979/80–2001/02). Extreme wet (dry) events are defined according to 75th (25th) percentiles of precipitation anomaly distributions observed in two time scales: intraseasonal and interannual. The agreement between the 25th and 75th percentiles of the GPCP precipitation and gridded precipitation obtained from stations in Brazil is also examined. Variations of extreme wet and dry anomalies on interannual time scales are investigated along with variations of sea surface temperature (SST) and circulation anomalies. The South Atlantic SST dipole seems related to interannual variations of extreme precipitation events over southeastern Brazil. It is shown that extreme wet and dry events in the continental portion of the South Atlantic convergence zone (SACZ) are decoupled from extremes over the oceanic portion of the SACZ and there is no coherent dipole of extreme precipitation regimes between tropics and subtropics on interannual time scales. On intraseasonal time scales, the occurrence of extreme dry and wet events depends on the propagation phase of extratropical wave trains and consequent intensification (weakening) of 200-hPa zonal winds. Extreme wet and dry events over southeastern Brazil and subtropical Atlantic are in phase on intraseasonal time scales. Extreme wet events over southeastern Brazil and subtropical Atlantic are observed in association with low-level northerly winds above the 75th percentile of the seasonal climatology over central-eastern South America. Extreme wet events on intraseasonal time scales over southeastern Brazil are more frequent during seasons not classified as extreme wet or dry on interannual time scales.

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (18) ◽  
pp. 7859-7874
Author(s):  
Ana Claudia Thome Sena ◽  
Gudrun Magnusdottir

AbstractProjected changes in the South American monsoon system by the end of the twenty-first century are analyzed using the Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble (CESM-LENS). The wet season is shorter in LENS when compared to observations, with the mean onset occurring 19 days later and the mean retreat date 21 days earlier in the season. Despite a precipitation bias, the seasonality of rainfall over South America is reproduced in LENS, as well as the main circulation features associated with the development of the South American monsoon. Both the onset and retreat of the wet season over South America are delayed in the future compared to current climate by 3 and 7 days, respectively, with a slightly longer wet season. Central and southeastern Brazil are projected to get wetter as a result of moisture convergence from the strengthening of the South Atlantic low-level jet and a weaker South Atlantic subtropical high. The Amazon is projected to get drier by the end of the century, negatively affecting rain forest productivity. During the wet season, an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events is found over most of South America, and especially over northeastern and southern Brazil and La Plata. Meanwhile, during the dry season an increase in the maximum number of consecutive dry days is found over northeastern Brazil and the northern Amazon.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Ana C. T. Sen ◽  
Gudrun Magnusdottir

AbstractThe influence of each phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) on the largescale circulation in South America is investigated using rainfall observations, fully-coupled, large-ensemble, historical simulations (LENS), and forced experiments using the coupled model’s atmospheric component. IOD events often occur when El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the largest source of interannual variability of precipitation in South America, is active. To distinguish from effects of ENSO, only cases during neutral ENSO conditions are analyzed in LENS and observations. During the positive IOD polarity, a perturbation in the localWalker circulation leads to increased convection over equatorial South America, resulting in wet anomalies in the Amazon basin. This signal is the opposite of what is expected during El Niño events. Tropical convection anomalies in the Indian Ocean also force an extratropical Rossby wave train that reaches subtropical South America. During positive IOD, the moisture flux from the Amazon to central and southeastern Brazil weakens, resulting in a drying of the area associated with the South Atlantic Convergence Zone. Meanwhile, the South Atlantic Subtropical High strengthens, contributing to a drying in southeastern Brazil. During negative IOD, the induced wave train from the Indian Ocean leads to increased moisture transport to the La Plata basin, leading to wet anomalies in the region.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 418
Author(s):  
Cleber Santos ◽  
Rayonil Carneiro ◽  
Camilla Borges ◽  
Didier Gastmans ◽  
Laura Borma

The use of stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen is a tool widely used to trace water paths along the hydrological cycle, providing support for understanding climatic conditions in different spatial scales. One of the main synoptic scale events acting in southeastern Brazil is the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ), which causes a large amount of precipitation from southern Amazonia to southeastern Brazil during the southern summer. In order to determine the isotopic composition of precipitation during the action of SACZ in São Francisco Xavier in southeastern Brazil, information from the Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies Center of the National Institute for Space Research (CPTEC) was used regarding SACZ performance days, the retrograde trajectories of the HYSPLIT model, and images from the GOES-16 satellite, in addition to the non-parametric statistical tests by Spearman and Kruskal–Wallis. A high frequency of air mass trajectories from the Amazon to southeastern Brazil was observed when the SACZ was operating. During the SACZ events, the average isotopic composition of precipitation was more depleted, with a δ18O of −9.9‰ (±2.1‰), a δ2H of −69.3‰ (±17.9‰), and d-excess of 10.1‰ (±4.0‰). When disregarding the SACZ performance, the annual isotopic composition can present an enrichment of 1.0‰ for δ18O and 8.8‰ for the δ2H. The long-term monitoring of trends in the isotopic composition of precipitation during the SACZ events can assist in indicating the evapotranspiration contribution of the Amazon rainforest to the water supply of southeastern Brazil.


1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 479-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian F. Windley

The Grenvillian Orogeny was preceded by extensive anorogenic volcanism and plutonism in the period 1500–1300 Ma in the form of rhyolites, epizonal granites, anorthosites, gabbros, alkaline complexes, and basic dykes. An analogue for the mid-Proterozoic anorogenic complexes is provided by the 2000 km by 200 km belt of anorogenic complexes in the Hoggar, Niger, and Nigeria, which contain anorthosites, gabbros, and peralkaline granites and were generated in a Cambrian to Jurassic rift that farther south led to the formation of the South Atlantic. An analogue for the 1 × 106 km2 area of 1500–1350 Ma rhyolites (and associated epizonal granites) that underlie the mid-continental United States is provided by the 1.7 × 106 km2 area of Jurassic Tobifera rhyolites in Argentina, which were extruded on the stretched continental margin of South America immediately preceding the opening of the South Atlantic. The mid-Proterozoic complexes were intruded close to the continental margin of the Grenvillian ocean and were commonly superimposed by the craton-directed thrusts that characterized the final stages of the Grenvillian Orogeny. The bulk of the Keweenawan rift and associated anorogenic magmatism formed about 1100 Ma at the same time as the Ottawan Orogeny in Ontario, which probably resulted from the collision of the island arc of the Central Metasedimentary Belt attached to the continental block in the east with the continental block to the west. The most appropriate modern equivalent would be the Rhine Graben, which formed at the same time as the main Alpine compression.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Kopp ◽  
Pauline Rivoire ◽  
S. Mubashshir Ali ◽  
Yannick Barton ◽  
Olivia Martius

<p>Temporal clustering of extreme precipitation events on subseasonal time scales is a type of compound event, which can cause large precipitation accumulations and lead to floods. We present a novel count-based procedure to identify subseasonal clustering of extreme precipitation events. Furthermore, we introduce two metrics to characterise the frequency of subseasonal clustering episodes and their relevance for large precipitation accumulations. The advantage of this approach is that it does not require the investigated variable (here precipitation) to satisfy any specific statistical properties. Applying this methodology to the ERA5 reanalysis data set, we identify regions where subseasonal clustering of annual high precipitation percentiles occurs frequently and contributes substantially to large precipitation accumulations. Those regions are the east and northeast of the Asian continent (north of Yellow Sea, in the Chinese provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Liaoning; North and South Korea; Siberia and east of Mongolia), central Canada and south of California, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, and the north of Argentina and south of Bolivia. Our method is robust with respect to the parameters used to define the extreme events (the percentile threshold and the run length) and the length of the subseasonal time window (here 2 – 4 weeks). The procedure could also be used to identify temporal clustering of other variables (e.g. heat waves) and can be applied on different time scales (e.g. for drought years). <span>For a complementary study on the subseasonal clustering of European extreme precipitation events and its relationship to large-scale atmospheric drivers, please refer to Barton et al.</span></p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renaud Falga ◽  
Chien Wang

<p>The South Asian monsoon system impacts the livelihoods of over a billion people. While the overall monsoon rainfall is believed to have decreased during the 20<sup>th</sup> century, there is a good agreement that the extreme precipitation events have been rising in some parts of India. As an important part of the Indian population is dependent on rainfed agriculture, such a rise in extremes, along with resulting flood events, can be all the more problematic. Although studies tend to link this rise in extreme events with anthropogenic forcing, some uncertainties remain on the exact causes. In order to examine the correlation between anthropogenic forcings and the different trends in extreme events, we have analyzed the high-resolution daily rainfall data in the past century delivered by the Indian Meteorological Department alongside several other economic and ecological estimates. The results from this analysis will be presented in detail.</p>


2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 3457-3476 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Taschetto ◽  
I. Wainer

Abstract. The Community Climate Model (CCM3) from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is used to investigate the effect of the South Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies on interannual to decadal variability of South American precipitation. Two ensembles composed of multidecadal simulations forced with monthly SST data from the Hadley Centre for the period 1949 to 2001 are analysed. A statistical treatment based on signal-to-noise ratio and Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) is applied to the ensembles in order to reduce the internal variability among the integrations. The ensemble treatment shows a spatial and temporal dependence of reproducibility. High degree of reproducibility is found in the tropics while the extratropics is apparently less reproducible. Austral autumn (MAM) and spring (SON) precipitation appears to be more reproducible over the South America-South Atlantic region than the summer (DJF) and winter (JJA) rainfall. While the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) region is dominated by external variance, the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ) over South America is predominantly determined by internal variance, which makes it a difficult phenomenon to predict. Alternatively, the SACZ over western South Atlantic appears to be more sensitive to the subtropical SST anomalies than over the continent. An attempt is made to separate the atmospheric response forced by the South Atlantic SST anomalies from that associated with the El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Results show that both the South Atlantic and Pacific SSTs modulate the intensity and position of the SACZ during DJF. Particularly, the subtropical South Atlantic SSTs are more important than ENSO in determining the position of the SACZ over the southeast Brazilian coast during DJF. On the other hand, the ENSO signal seems to influence the intensity of the SACZ not only in DJF but especially its oceanic branch during MAM. Both local and remote influences, however, are confounded by the large internal variance in the region. During MAM and JJA, the South Atlantic SST anomalies affect the magnitude and the meridional displacement of the ITCZ. In JJA, the ENSO has relatively little influence on the interannual variability of the simulated rainfall. During SON, however, the ENSO seems to counteract the effect of the subtropical South Atlantic SST variations on convection over South America.


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