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Title: What Determines the Number and the Timing of Pulses in Afternoon Precipitation in the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon) Observations?

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)
  2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
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Using GoAmazon observations over the central Amazon, we investigate double-pulse events of afternoon precipitation for the first time. Relative humidity is the dominant factor in determining the onset timing and the number of pulses of precipitation. A moister free troposphere on single-pulse days features heavy precipitation in the early afternoon, which stabilizes the atmosphere and prohibits further convection. On early–onset double-pulse days, weaker precipitation from shallower convection in the first pulse leads to less consumption of atmospheric instability, making the environment favorable for a second pulse of stronger precipitation. A cluster tracking algorithm using the scanning radar reflectivity is developed to examine the relationship between precipitation pulses. Through explicitly tracking convective clusters that exist from the first to the second pulse, convective aggregation plays a more dominant role to the survival of clusters with larger final size, and on average around 20% of cluster survivals are due to natural growth.

Research Organization:
ARM Data Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1841549
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-826401
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 49; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
deep convective system double precipitation pulses cluster tracking free troposphere humidity cluster-cluster interaction convective aggregation