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Surface and atmospheric patterns for early and late rainy season onset years in South America

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Abstract

The biosphere–atmosphere interactions associated with the rainy season onset in South America (SA) are not well understood. This study aimed to analyze the atmospheric and surface patterns associated with early, neutral, and late rainy season onset in tropical regions of SA. The following years represented each rainy season onset: 1998, 2006, 2009 (early), 2001, 2004, 2005 (neutral), 2000, 2007, 2008 (late). The early (late) onset were negative (positive) rainy season onset date anomalies in comparison to the climatological mean (1998–2016) over central SA. Distinct atmospheric conditions were identified in the early and late rainy season onset. In the early onset, the northwesterly moisture flux and moisture advection were higher than average over central-east SA, where the precipitation increased. In the late onset, precipitation was enhanced in northwest SA and the configuration of multiple atmospheric blocking episodes contributed to delay the rainy season onset. Surface conditions also contributed to both the early/late rainy season onset. In the early onset, wetter and cooler pre-onset conditions over the central-east SA were verified. In the late onset, surface conditions were dry and warm before onset. Even though the atmospheric instability was promoted by the increase in sensible heating, dry atmospheric conditions were not favorable to deep convection, thus delaying the onset. These findings highlight how the onset variability promotes different atmospheric and surface patterns in SA. The results will contribute to the development of weather and climate models to better represent the rainy season onset focusing on biosphere–atmosphere processes improvements.

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Data Availability

The following datasets analyzed during the current study are available in: RADS, ERA5, ERA5-Land and GPCP.

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Acknowledgements

We thank anonymous reviewers for providing valuable comments and suggestions that contributed to improving the quality of this manuscript. We thank Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). ILT was supported by CAPES (process 88887.354679/2019-00). Acknowledgments also to CLIMAX-FAPESP-Belmont-2015/50687-8. IFAC thanks CNPq- Project 306393/2018-2. We thank CPTEC/INPE for the technical and infrastructure support related to the Post-Graduation Program.

Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001. ILT was supported by CAPES (process 88887.354679/2019-00). This study was also financed in part by CLIMAX-FAPESP-Belmont-2015/50687-8. IFAC thanks CNPq- Project 306393/2018-2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Previsão de Tempo E Estudos Climáticos (CPTEC), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Rodovia Presidente Dutra, Km 40, SP-RJ, Cachoeira Paulista, SP, 12630-000, Brasil

    Isabella L. Talamoni, Iracema F. A. Cavalcanti, Paulo Y. Kubota & Dayana C. de Souza

  2. School of Earth and Environment, Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Jessica C. A. Baker

  3. Centro de Ciência Do Sistema Terrestre, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Avenida Dos Astronautas, 1758, São José dos Campos, SP, 12227010, Brasil

    Rita M. S. P. Vieira

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  1. Isabella L. Talamoni
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  2. Iracema F. A. Cavalcanti
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Correspondence to Isabella L. Talamoni.

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Talamoni, I.L., Cavalcanti, I.F.A., Kubota, P.Y. et al. Surface and atmospheric patterns for early and late rainy season onset years in South America. Clim Dyn 59, 2815–2830 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06234-z

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