What drives daily precipitation over the central Amazon? Differences observed between wet and dry seasons

Biscaro, Thiago S.; Machado, Luiz A. T.; Giangrande, Scott E.; Jensen, Michael P.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6735-2021

Articles | Volume 21, issue 9

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6735-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6735-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 21, issue 9

Research article

|

05 May 2021

Research article |

| 05 May 2021

What drives daily precipitation over the central Amazon? Differences observed between wet and dry seasons

Thiago S. Biscaro, Luiz A. T. Machado, Scott E. Giangrande, and Michael P. Jensen

Data sets

Ceilometer (CEILPBLHT), 2014-01-01 to 2015-12-31 Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) https://doi.org/10.5439/1095593

Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS), 2014-01-01 to 2015-12-31 Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) https://doi.org/10.5439/1025274

Eddy Correlation Flux Measurement System (30ECOR), 2014-04-03 to 2015-12-01 Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) https://doi.org/10.5439/1025039

W-band Cloud Radar Active Remote Sensing of Cloud (ARSCLWACR1KOLLIAS), 2014-01-01 to 2015-12-31 Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) https://doi.org/10.5439/1097547

Short summary

This study suggests that there are two distinct modes driving diurnal precipitating convective clouds over the central Amazon. In the wet season, local factors such as turbulence and nighttime cloud coverage are the main controls of daily precipitation, while dry-season daily precipitation is modulated primarily by the mesoscale convective pattern. The results imply that models and parameterizations must consider different formulations based on the seasonal cycle to correctly resolve convection.