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Low-level nocturnal wind maximum over the central Amazon basin

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Abstract

A low-level nocturnal wind maximum is shown to exist over extensive and nearly undisturbed rainforest near the central Amazon city of Manaus. Analysis of meteorological data collected during the 1985 and 1987 Amazon Boundary Layer Experiments (ABLE 2A and 2B) indicates the presence of this nocturnal wind maximum during both the wet and dry seasons of the Central Amazon Basin. Daytime wind speeds which are characteristically 3–7 m s-1 between 300 and 1000 m increase to 10–15m s-1 shortly after sunset. The wind speed maximum is reached in the early evening, with wind speeds remaining high until several hours after sunrise. The nocturnal wind maximum is closely linked to a strong low-level inversion formed by radiational cooling of the rainforest canopy. The night-time inversion extends up to 300 m with strong vertical shear of the horizontal wind below the inversion top and uniformly strong horizontal winds above the inversion top. Frictional decoupling of the air above the inversion from the rough forest below, however, is responsible for only part of the observed increase. Surface and low-level pressure gradients between the undisturbed forest and the large Amazon river system and the city of Manaus are shown to be responsible for much of the nocturnal wind increase. The pressure gradients are interpreted as a function of the thermal differences between undisturbed forest and the river/city. The importance of both the frictional decoupling and the horizontal pressure gradient suggest that the nocturnal wind maximum does not occur uniformly over all Amazonia. We suspect that stronger low-level winds are pervasive under clear skies and strong surface cooling and that, in many places (i.e., near rivers), local pressure gradients enhance the low-level nocturnal winds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, 22903, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Steven Greco

  2. Department of Geology and Geography, James Madison University, 22807, Harrisonburg, VA, USA

    Stanley Ulanski

  3. Hurricane Research Division, NOAA, 33149, Miami, FL, USA

    Samuel Houston

Authors
  1. Steven Greco
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  2. Stanley Ulanski
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  3. Michael Garstang
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  4. Samuel Houston
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Greco, S., Ulanski, S., Garstang, M. et al. Low-level nocturnal wind maximum over the central Amazon basin. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 58, 91–115 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00120753

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