Search Menu
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Search Scholarly Publications

Title: Characterizing Wet Season Precipitation in the Central Amazon Using a Mesoscale Convective System Tracking Algorithm

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

To comprehensively characterize convective precipitation in the central Amazon region, we utilize the Python FLEXible object TRacKeR (PyFLEXTRKR) to track mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) observed through satellite measurements and simulated by the Weather Research and Forecasting model at a convection-permitting resolution. This study spans a 2-month period during the wet seasons of 2014 and 2015. We observe a strong correlation between the MCS track density and accumulated precipitation in the Amazon basin. Key factors contributing to precipitation, such as MCS properties (number, size, rainfall intensity, and movement), are thoroughly examined. Our analysis reveals that while the overall model produces fewer MCSs with smaller mean sizes compared to observations, it tends to overpredict total precipitation due to excessive rainfall intensity for heavy rainfall events (≥10 mm hr–1). These biases in simulated MCS properties could vary with the constraints on the convective background environment. Moreover, while the wet bias from heavy (convective) rainfall outweighs the dry bias in light (stratiform) rainfall, the latter can be crucial, particularly when MCS cloud cover is significantly underestimated. A case study for 1 April 2014 highlights the influence of environmental conditions on the MCS lifecycle and identifies an unrealistic model representation in both stratiform and convective precipitation features.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
2460451
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA--195122
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres Journal Issue: 19 Vol. 129; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union; WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (38)

Investigation of the predictability and physical mechanisms of an extreme-rainfall-producing mesoscale convective system along the Meiyu front in East China: An ensemble approach journal October 2015
On the sensitivity of the diurnal cycle in the Amazon to convective intensity: Amazonian Diurnal Cycle Observations journal July 2016
Tropical mesoscale convective system formation environments journal February 2023
Mesoscale convective systems over the Amazon basin. Part I: climatological aspects: AMAZON'S MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEMS CLIMATOLOGY journal July 2017
Mesoscale convective systems over the Amazon basin: The GoAmazon2014/5 program journal June 2019
The dynamics and simulation of tropical cumulonimbus and squall lines: CUMULONIMBUS AND SQUALL LINES journal April 1976
Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission (IMERG) book January 2020
Multiscale Evaluation of Satellite Precipitation Products: Effective Resolution of IMERG book April 2020
Simulating North American mesoscale convective systems with a convection-permitting climate model journal October 2017
Radar observations of the kinematic, microphysical, and precipitation characteristics of two MCSs in TRMM LBA journal January 2002
Characteristics of the Amazonian mesoscale convective systems observed from satellite and radar during the WETAMC/LBA experiment journal January 2002
A case study of convective organization into precipitating lines in the Southwest Amazon during the WETAMC and TRMM-LBA journal January 2002
Intraseasonal large-scale circulations and mesoscale convective activity in tropical South America during the TRMM-LBA campaign journal January 2002
Radiative forcing by long-lived greenhouse gases: Calculations with the AER radiative transfer models journal January 2008
Top-of-atmosphere radiation budget of convective core/stratiform rain and anvil clouds from deep convective systems: CONVECTIVE CORE ANVIL CLOUD RADIATION journal December 2011
The Life Cycles of Ice Crystals Detrained From the Tops of Deep Convection: ANVIL ICE LIFECYCLE journal September 2018
Cloud‐Resolving Model Intercomparison of an MC3E Squall Line Case: Part II. Stratiform Precipitation Properties journal January 2019
Structure and Evolution of Mesoscale Convective Systems: Sensitivity to Cloud Microphysics in Convection‐Permitting Simulations Over the United States journal July 2018
Sensitivity of Simulated Deep Convection to a Stochastic Ice Microphysics Framework journal November 2019
Interpreting the Diurnal Cycle of Clouds and Precipitation in the ARM GoAmazon Observations: Shallow to Deep Convection Transition journal March 2021
A Global High‐Resolution Mesoscale Convective System Database Using Satellite‐Derived Cloud Tops, Surface Precipitation, and Tracking journal April 2021
Mesoscale Convective Systems Simulated by a High‐Resolution Global Nonhydrostatic Model Over the United States and China journal April 2022
Representations of Precipitation Diurnal Cycle in the Amazon as Simulated by Observationally Constrained Cloud‐System Resolving and Global Climate Models journal November 2021
Towards a Unified Setup to Simulate Mid‐Latitude and Tropical Mesoscale Convective Systems at Kilometer‐Scales journal August 2022
Grid Spacing Sensitivities of Simulated Mid‐Latitude and Tropical Mesoscale Convective Systems in the Convective Gray Zone journal May 2023
Assessing Precipitation Over the Amazon Basin as Simulated by a Storm‐Resolving Model journal February 2023
The June 2012 North American Derecho: A Testbed for Evaluating Regional and Global Climate Modeling Systems at Cloud‐Resolving Scales journal April 2023
GNSS Radio Occultation Data in the AWS Cloud journal February 2024
Km‐Scale Simulations of Mesoscale Convective Systems Over South America—A Feature Tracker Intercomparison journal April 2024
The formation, character and changing nature of mesoscale convective systems journal June 2020
Coupling an Advanced Land Surface–Hydrology Model with the Penn State–NCAR MM5 Modeling System. Part I: Model Implementation and Sensitivity journal April 2001
Explicit Forecasts of Winter Precipitation Using an Improved Bulk Microphysics Scheme. Part II: Implementation of a New Snow Parameterization journal December 2008
The ARM Mobile Facilities journal April 2016
Storm Morphology and Rainfall Characteristics of TRMM Precipitation Features journal October 2006
Development of an Improved Turbulence Closure Model for the Atmospheric Boundary Layer journal January 2009
NCEP FNL Operational Model Global Tropospheric Analyses, continuing from July 1999
  • Commerce, National Centers For Environmental Prediction/National Weather Service/NOAA/U. S. Department Of
  • UCAR/NCAR - Research Data Archive https://doi.org/10.5065/D6M043C6
dataset January 2000
Large-scale vertical velocity, diabatic heating and drying profiles associated with seasonal and diurnal variations of convective systems observed in the GoAmazon2014/5 experiment journal January 2016
Data and script for "Characterizing Wet Season Precipitation in the Central Amazon Using a Mesoscale Convective System Tracking Algorithm" dataset January 2024

Similar Records

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Amazon
data assimilation
environmental conditions
mesoscale convection system
precipitation
tracking