Summary
This paper presents an analysis of the frequency and spatial distribution of droughts in Argentina during the 20th century. Special attention is given to the mean monthly atmospheric circulation associated with dry conditions in the Pampas during the second half of the century. A reduction in the number of dry cases is found throughout the century, especially during the warm season (October to March). Droughts occurred more often in only one or two regions simultaneously and only a few covered a large territory. Many of the dry months in the Pampas occurred under, or were preceded by, neutral ENSO conditions. During the warm season the ENSO cold phase preceded some of the dry months.
Circulation patterns at 1000 hPa and 500 hPa and their temporal evolution are determined using Principal Component Analysis. A coupled 1000-500 hPa level analysis is performed to study the vertical coherence associated with dry conditions. Different patterns related to the warm season are clearly identified using this methodology. The principal feature are positive anomalies over the continent (principally at low levels), high circulation index and an enhancement of the westerlies. Patterns related to the cold season reflect high pressure at the surface, but some differences pre- and post- 1970 have been observed. In this season, some dry cases were found to have high correlations with opposites modes of PC scores. In these cases, a water deficit acted as the principal causes of the dry conditions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
AP Alessandro E Lichtenstein (1996) ArticleTitleSituación sinóptica asociada a la sequía del invierno de 1995 Revista Geofísica 45 125–143
InstitutionalAuthorNameAmerican Meteorological Society (1997) ArticleTitleMeteorological drought-policy statement Bull Amer Meteor Soc 78 847–849
JP Boulanger J Leloup O Penalba M Rusticucci F Lafon W Vargas (2005) ArticleTitleObserved precipitation in the Paraná-Plata hydrological basin: long term trends, extreme conditions and ENSO teleconnections Clim Dyn 24 393–413 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00382-004-0514-x
D Bromwich F Ryan (2004) ArticleTitleStrong trends in the skill of the ERA-40 and NCEP–NCAR reanalyses in the high and midlatitudes of the Southern Hemisphere 1958–2001 J Clim 17 IssueID23 4603–4620 Occurrence Handle10.1175/3241.1
R Compagnucci M Salles (1997) ArticleTitleSurface pressure patterns during the year over southern South America Int J Clim 17 635–653 Occurrence Handle10.1002/(SICI)1097-0088(199705)17:6<635::AID-JOC81>3.0.CO;2-B
A Fowler K Adams (2004) ArticleTitleTwentieth century droughts and wet periods in Auckland (New Zealand) and their relationship to ENSO Int J Clim 24 IssueID15 1947–1961 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.1100
D Gong J Wang H Han (2005) ArticleTitleTrends of summer dry spells in China during the late twentieth century Meteorol Atmos Phys 88 IssueID3–4 203–214 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00703-004-0081-z
R Heim (2002) ArticleTitleA review of twentieth-century drought indices used in the United States Bull Am Meteor Soc 83 IssueID8 1149–1165
Hoffman JA (1975) Maps of mean temperature and precipitation. Climatic atlas of South America, Vol. 1. WMO UNESCO, pp 1–28
Infante Gil S, Zárate de Lara G (1984) Métodos estadísticos. Trillas México, 643 pp
IPCC (2001) Climate change 2001. The scientific basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the 3rd Assesment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 944 pp
HF Kaiser (1958) ArticleTitleThe application of electronic computers to factor analysis Educ Psychol Measure 20 141–151 Occurrence Handle10.1177/001316446002000116
J Keyartash J Dracup (2002) ArticleTitleThe quantification of drought: an evaluation of drought indices Bull Am Meteor Soc 83 1167–1180
R Kistler E Kalnay W Collins S Saha G White J Woollen M Chelliah W Ebisuzaki M Kanamitsu V Kousky H van den Dool R Jenne M Fiorino (2001) ArticleTitleThe NCEP–NCAR 50-year reanalysis: monthly means CD-ROM and documentation Bull Amer Meteor Soc 82 IssueID2 247–268 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0477(2001)082<0247:TNNYRM>2.3.CO;2
Labraga JC, Scian B, Frumento O (2002) Anomalies in the circulation associated with the rainfall excess or deficit in the Pampa region in Argentina. J Geophys Res 107(23): ACL 2: 1–15 (DOI: 10.1029/2002JD002113)
Malaka I (1987). Aspectos Sinópticos de las anomalías de precipitación ocurridas durante los meses octubre a enero 1985/86. Anales del II Congreso Interamericano de Meteorología y V Congreso Argentino de Meteorología. Buenos Aires 30/11–4/12 1987. 6.1.1–6.1.5
I Malaka S Núñez (1980) ArticleTitleAspectos sinópticos de la sequía que afectó a la República Argentina en el año 1982 Geoacta 10 IssueID2 1–21
Minetti J, Vargas W, Zerda L, Casagrande G, Acuña L, Nieva I, Frasseto F (2001) Inventario de las sequías regionales en Argentina y Chile. Publicación del Laboratorio Climatológico Sudamericano. Fund. Caldenius. S. Miguel de Tucumán Argentina, 30 pp
Minetti J, Vargas W, Vega B, Costa M (2006) Las sequías en la Pampa Húmeda: impacto en la productividad del maíz. Revista Brasileira de Meteorología (accepted)
G Müller R Compagnucci M Núñez A Salles (2003) ArticleTitleSurface circulation associated with frost in the wet pampas Int J Clim 23 943–961 Occurrence Handle10.1002/joc.907
GR North TL Bell RF Cahalan (1982) ArticleTitleSampling errors in the estimation of empirical orthogonal function Mon Wea Rev 110 669–706
O Penalba W Vargas (2001) ArticleTitlePropiedades de déficits y excesos de precipitación en zonas agropecuarias Meteorologica 26 39–55
A Pezza T Ambrizzi (1999) ArticleTitleUm estudo das flutuaçöes de temperatura para o período de inverno na américa do sul, correlacionando a Patagonia como sul do Brasil Revista Brasileira de Meteorologia 14 IssueID1 23–34
RW Preisendorfer (1988) Principal component analysis in meteorology and oceanography Elsevier New York 425
Richman MB (1983) Specification of complex modes of circulation with T-mode factor analysis. Preprints 2nd Int. Conf. on Statistics and Climate, Lisbon, National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics, p 5.1.1
CF Ropelewski M Halper (1996) ArticleTitleQuantifying Southern Oscillation-precipitation relationships J Climate 9 1043–1059 Occurrence Handle10.1175/1520-0442(1996)009<1043:QSOPR>2.0.CO;2
G Silvestri (2004) ArticleTitleEl Niño signal variability in the precipitation over southeastern South America during austral summer Geophys Res Lett 31 L18206 Occurrence Handle10.1029/2004GL020590
G Silvestri (2005) ArticleTitleComparison between winter precipitation in southeastern South America during each ENSO phase Geophys Res Lett 32 L05709 Occurrence Handle10.1029/2004GL021749
CA Smith P Sardeshmukh (2000) ArticleTitleThe effect of ENSO on the intraseasonal variance of surface temperature in winter Int J Clim 20 1543–1557 Occurrence Handle10.1002/1097-0088(20001115)20:13<1543::AID-JOC579>3.0.CO;2-A
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barrucand, M., Vargas, W. & Rusticucci, M. Dry conditions over Argentina and the related monthly circulation patterns. Meteorol. Atmos. Phys. 98, 99–114 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-006-0232-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-006-0232-5