Seasonal controls on isolated convective storm drafts, precipitation intensity, and life cycle as observed during GoAmazon2014/5

Giangrande, Scott E.; Biscaro, Thiago S.; Peters, John M.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5297-2023

Articles | Volume 23, issue 9

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5297-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5297-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 23, issue 9

Research article

|

11 May 2023

Research article |

| 11 May 2023

Seasonal controls on isolated convective storm drafts, precipitation intensity, and life cycle as observed during GoAmazon2014/5

Scott E. Giangrande, Thiago S. Biscaro, and John M. Peters

Data sets

Radar Wind Profiler (1290RWPPRECIPMOM) R. Coulter, P. Muradyan, and T. Martin https://doi.org/10.5439/1256461

W-band Cloud Radar Active Remote Sensing of Cloud (ARSCLWACRBND1KOLLIAS) S. E. Giangrande, K. Johnson, E. Clothiaux, and P. Kollias https://doi.org/10.5439/1097548

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility D. Holdridge, M. Ritsche, R. Coulter, J. Kyrouac, and E. Keeler https://doi.org/10.5439/1595321

Ceilometer (CEIL) V. Morris, D. Zhang, and B. Ermold https://doi.org/10.5439/1181954

Surface Meteorological Instrumentation (MET) J. Kyrouac and Y. Shi https://doi.org/10.5439/1786358

Short summary

Our study tracks thunderstorms observed during the wet and dry seasons of the Amazon Basin using weather radar. We couple this precipitation tracking with opportunistic overpasses of a wind profiler and other ground observations to add unique insights into the upwards and downwards air motions within these clouds at various stages in the storm life cycle. The results of a simple updraft model are provided to give physical explanations for observed seasonal differences.