scholarly journals Virtual Control Volume Approach to the Study of Climate Causal Flows: Identification of Humidity and Wind Pathways of Influence on Rainfall in Ecuador

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 848
Author(s):  
Angel Vázquez-Patiño ◽  
Lenin Campozano ◽  
Daniela Ballari ◽  
Mario Córdova ◽  
Esteban Samaniego
Keyword(s):  
Control Volume ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Control Surface ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Virtual Control ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Eulerian Description ◽  
Scalar Data ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

Unraveling the relationship between humidity, wind, and rainfall is vitally important to understand the dynamics of water vapor transport. In recent years, the use of causal networks to identify causal flows has gained much ground in the field of climatology to provide new insights about physical processes and hypothesize previously unknown ones. In this paper, the concept of a virtual control volume is proposed, which resembles the Eulerian description of a vector field, but is based on causal flows instead. A virtual control surface is used to identify the influence of surrounding climatic processes on the control volume (i.e., the study region). Such an influence is characterized by using a causal inference method that gives information about its direction and strength. The proposed approach was evaluated by inferring and spatially delineating areas of influence of humidity and wind on the rainfall of Ecuador. It was possible to confirm known patterns of influence, such as the influence of the Pacific Ocean on the coast and the influence of the Atlantic Ocean on the Amazon. Moreover, the approach was able to identify plausible new hypotheses, such as the influence of humidity on rainfall in the northern part of the boundary between the Andes and the Amazon, as well as the origin (the Amazon or the tropical Atlantic) and the altitude at which surrounding humidity and wind influence rainfall within the control volume. These hypotheses highlight the ability of the approach to exploit a large amount of scalar data and identify pathways of influence between climatic variables.

scholarly journals Analysis of Intense Poleward Water Vapor Transports into High Latitudes of Western North America

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1732-1747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Roberge ◽  
John R. Gyakum ◽  
Eyad H. Atallah
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
North America ◽  
Vapor Transport ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Synoptic Scale ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Subtropical Oceans ◽  
Pineapple Express

Abstract Significant cool season precipitation along the western coast of North America is often associated with intense water vapor transport (IWVT) from the Pacific Ocean during favorable synoptic-scale flow regimes. These relatively narrow and intense regions of water vapor transport can originate in either the tropical or subtropical oceans, and sometimes have been referred to as Pineapple Express events in previous literature when originating near Hawaii. However, the focus of this paper will be on diagnosing the synoptic-scale signatures of all significant water vapor transport events associated with poleward moisture transport impacting the western coast of Canada, regardless of the exact points of origin of the associated atmospheric river. A trajectory analysis is used to partition the events as a means of creating coherent and meaningful synoptic-scale composites. The results indicate that these IWVT events can be clustered by the general area of origin of the majority of the saturated parcels impacting British Columbia and the Yukon Territories. IWVT events associated with more zonal trajectories are characterized by a strong and mature Aleutian low, whereas IWVT events associated with more meridional trajectories are often characterized by an anticyclone situated along the California or Oregon coastline, and a relatively mature poleward-traveling cyclone, commonly originating in the central North Pacific.

scholarly journals A cut-off low in southern South America: dynamic and thermodynamic processes

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Anibal Godoy ◽  
Norma Edit Possia ◽  
Claudia Marcela Campetella ◽  
Yanina García Skabar
Keyword(s):  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Pressure System ◽  
Horizontal Advection ◽  
The Andes ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Divergence Effect ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Cutoff Low ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Thermodynamic Processes

The dynamic and thermodynamic processes involved in the life cycle of a cutoff low occurred in March 2007 are studied. These processes are analyzed using the vorticity and thermodynamic equations and a set of analyses generated with the BRAMS model. The main processes that explain the segregation of the subtropical part of the trough are the horizontal advection of cyclonic vorticity at high levels and warm horizontal advection at middle levels, both over the Pacific Ocean extending south to the Patagonia region, building the ridge located upstream of the trough. Increased intensity of the upper level low pressure system is mainly explained by intensification of the ridges down and upstream. The divergence effect is opposed to the horizontal advection of vorticity which explains the stagnation of the cut-off low windward of the Andes. The decay stage is dominated by warm vertical advection. Assuming the conservation of potential vorticity the analysis of parcel trajectories , allowed detecting the entrance of stratospheric air to middle levels of the lower troposphere around the cut-off low.

scholarly journals Terroir and typicity of Carignan from Maule Valley (Chile): the resurgence of a minority variety

OENO One ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gastón Gutiérrez-Gamboa ◽  
Yerko Moreno-Simunovic
Keyword(s):  
National Average ◽  
Andes Mountains ◽  
Wine Industry ◽  
Cabernet Sauvignon ◽  
High Alcohol ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
The Andes ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The World ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

Carignan is one of those minor cultivars that have had a major resurgence in the Chilean wine industry, and its production is sold at a price well above the national average. This variety, together with other autochthonous grapevine varieties, makes up a unique heritage in Chilean winemaking, which has given a new identity to the country on the world wine scene. Chilean viticulture is based on the production of the most recognized grapevine varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc. However, this has caused a massive loss of minority and autochthonous grapevine varieties in certain wine growing regions. Thus, this review summarizes the effects of terroir of the Maule Valley on the typicity of Carignan. Carignan grapevines growing in the sites closer to the Pacific Ocean, such as Truquilemu and Ciénaga de Name, present a high concentration of several amino acids and volatile compounds in grapes and wines, while Carignan grapevines growing in the sites further east, towards the Andes Mountains, provide grapes and wines with a high alcohol and phenolic concentration. Therefore, Maule Valley provides unique edaphoclimatic conditions that allow differences in the composition and style of the Carignan wines.

scholarly journals First insights on Lake General Carrera/Buenos Aires/Chelenko water balance

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 173-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Zambrano ◽  
R. Abarca del Rio ◽  
J.-F. Cretaux ◽  
B. Reid
Keyword(s):  
Water Balance ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Lake Basin ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
The Andes ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Tectonic Origin

Abstract. Lago General Carrera (Chile) also called Lago Buenos Aires (Argentina) or originally Chelenko by the native habitants of the region is located in Patagonia on the Chilean-Argentinean border. It is the largest lake in Chile with a surface area of 1850 km2. The lake is of glacial/tectonic origin and surrounded by the Andes mountain range. The lake drains primarily to the Pacific Ocean to the west, through the Baker River (one of Chile's largest rivers), and intermittently eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. We report ongoing results from an investigation of the seasonal hydrological cycle of the lake basin. The contribution by river input through snowmelt from the Andes is of primary importance, though the lack of water input by ungaged rivers is also critical. We present the main variables involved in the water balance of Lake General Carrera/Buenos Aires/Chelenko, such as influent and effluent river flows, precipitation, and evaporation, all this based mostly in in-situ information.

South America I: Caribbean Deserts and Tropical Savannahs

Horse Nations ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
South America ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Gran Chaco ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Northern Half ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Inka Empire ◽  
Spanish Province

These two quotations, dating to within almost a decade of each other, refer to very different parts of South America, the first the La Guajira Peninsula at its northern tip, the second the savannahs of the Gran Chaco at its very heart. The Wayúu, dwelling in the first, had no direct connection with the Mbayá of whom Dobrizhoffer wrote here (though he is more famous for his work on their cousins, the Abipones). Nevertheless, both regions shared aspects of their respective experiences of colonial intrusion and settlement: the frequent adoption not just of horses but also of other exotic species like cattle and sheep; Spanish use of missionaries to try and pacify their Indigenous inhabitants; and the fact that the latter could play off one European power, or Spanish province, against another, thereby maintaining their own freedom of action. Aiding the Native peoples in this was their geographically, politically, and economically marginal position with respect to the main foci of colonial power in the Andes and along the Atlantic. Spain began exploiting Venezuela’s pearl fisheries as early as 1508, even settling on the mainland from 1522, but the real impetus to conquest in South America came only with Francisco Pizarro’s invasion of the Inka Empire in 1533. The highlands of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia (the latter never part of Inka domains), the lowlands between them and the Pacific Ocean, the northern half of Chile, and the northwestern corner of Argentina all passed quickly—if not always easily—under Spanish control. So too did parts of Paraguay, settled by following rivers inland from the Atlantic. Portugal, on the other hand, secured for herself the coast of Brazil, eventually expanding her reach across virtually the entire Amazon Basin. Horses were as much a part of the conquistadores’ repertoire in South America as in Mexico. They sowed panic when Pizarro first confronted Inka troops at Cajamarca in 1533, but Native American surprise and fear did not last. Inka armies quickly devised tactics to neutralize the effects of horses on the battlefield in vain efforts to expel the invader.

Organic Matter and Nutrients in the Mainstem Amazon River

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan H. Devol ◽  
John I. Hedges
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Drainage Basin ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Convective Precipitation ◽  
Amazon River ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Oxidation Reduction ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

The Amazon, like smaller rivers, is the daughter of its drainage basin. Local climate and interactions over time with the template of topography, geology, and vegetation determine the size and flow of rivers. Likewise, the compositions of the particulate and dissolved materials carried by rivers result from initially similar rainwaters that have been uniquely imprinted by contact with almost every plant, animal, and mineral in the catchment. Rivers thus provide a continuously flowing signal, recorded by isotopes, ions and molecules, of the cumulative effects of drainage basin processes such as weathering, oxidation/reduction, gas exchange, photosynthesis, biodegradation, and partitioning. This recording is complementary to more classical methods of remote sensing based on electromagnetic radiation, but is composited over a wider range of time and space scales and includes effects of subcanopy and subsurface processes. The Amazon River is similar to other rivers in this regard, but is unusual in the size and extent of different environments its waters touch. The Amazon River is the world’s largest river and drains the world’s largest single catchment (∼6,000,000 km2). It discharges an average of about 200,000 m3 of water per second to the Atlantic Ocean. This volume is about 5 times more than the Congo, the second largest river. The Amazon has 1100 major tributaries, three of which are nearly as large as the Congo. From its origins at about 5200 m in the Andes about 200 km from the Pacific Ocean, the Amazon goes through at least 10 name changes as it snakes its way 6500 km eastward to the Atlantic Ocean (Schreider and Schreider 1970). The flooded areas along the lower mainstem are important sources of greenhouse gases such as methane (Bartlett and Harriss 1993, Devol et al. 1994) and the latent heat release from convective precipitation in the basin is sufficient to influence global climate. The Amazon drainage basin contains 40% of the world’s tropical rain forest (dos Santos, 1987) and is home to countless species of plants and animals. The river itself contains some 2000 described species of fish.

The Origin of the Mystery

Anaconda ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 222-232
Author(s):  
Jesús A. Rivas
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
South America ◽  
Large River ◽  
Nazca Plate ◽  
Congo River ◽  
The Andes ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Western Border ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

This chapter traces the paleo-history of South America to tackle evolutionary questions about anacondas. Going back in history 150 million years ago, the current continents of South America and Africa were joined in a single mega-continent that also included current Australia and Antarctic. In the northern part of this continent (current South America and Africa) was a large river that started roughly where the current Congo River starts and drained the continent out of what is currently western Ecuador. Approximately 110 million years ago, South America separated from Africa and drifted west. The continent was drained by the paleo-Amazon. As South America drifted west, it collided with the Nazca plate in the eastern Pacific. As the two landmasses moved against each other, the Nazca plate subsided under South America, pushing up the western border of the latter, giving rise to the Andes. The creation of the Andes would result in the eventual closing of the drainage of the paleo-Amazon into the Pacific Ocean. The chapter looks at the significance of this paleo-history to the evolution of anacondas. It seems like the conditions in the paleo-history of the continent of constant flooding were not all that different from the conditions that anacondas encounter currently in the llanos.

scholarly journals Summer Water Vapor Sources in Northeast Asia and East Siberia Revealed by a Moisture-Tracing Atmospheric Model

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
pp. 3883-3899
Author(s):  
Jinling Piao ◽  
Wen Chen ◽  
Shangfeng Chen ◽  
Hainan Gong ◽  
Qiong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
Summer Precipitation ◽  
Water Vapor Transport ◽  
East Siberia ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

AbstractPrevious studies found a seesaw pattern of summer precipitation between northeast Asia and east Siberia on an interannual time scale, which is associated with an eastward-propagating atmospheric wave train over Eurasia and corresponding water vapor transport circulations. Using a general circulation model with an embedded water-tagging module, the main water vapor sources of the two regions, as well as the relative contributions of each source region to the total precipitation for both the climatological mean and interdecadal variation, are further compared in this study. The model simulation results show that local evaporation, the Pacific Ocean, and East Asia are the dominant moisture sources for northeast Asian precipitation. In contrast, for east Siberia, moisture mainly originates from the Pacific Ocean, northeast Asia, west Siberia, and local evaporation. This suggests that the local evaporation and Pacific Ocean are both crucial to the moisture supply of the two regions, implying the important roles of the land processes and adjacent oceanic sources. In addition, northeast Asia appears to be the major moisture source for east Siberia, whereas east Siberia has weak impacts on the moisture input for northeast Asia. Further analysis finds that the model simulation can capture interdecadal changes in summer precipitation over the two regions around the late 1990s. This interdecadal change is mainly manifested in the moisture supplies from the Pacific Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, and east Siberia, which suggests a link with the circulation anomalies under the combined impacts of the Pacific decadal oscillation and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation.

scholarly journals 21st Century Macro-Imagineering: Lake Titicaca Hydropower Megaproject

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Alexander Bolonkin ◽  
Richard Brook Cathcart
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Key Words ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Andes Mountains ◽  
Lake Titicaca ◽  
The Andes ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

<p class="-1"><strong><span lang="EN-US">Abstract: </span></strong><span lang="EN-US">Territorially shared by Peru and Bolivia, South America’s largest freshwater lake is navigable Lake Titicaca, situated on an highland endorheic river basin of the Andes Mountains. Currently, Lake Titicaca is mostly regulated by ever-changing Nature. But, since its closure during 2001 AD, a small anthropogenic dam (at elevation 3804 m), emplaced at the headwaters, the Rio Desaguadero is still the altiplano lake’s only flowing freshwater outlet. Intriguingly, from circa 1908 AD, Macro-Imagineers foresaw the creation of a second, completely artificial, flowing freshwater outlet for Lake Titicaca’s 935 km3 of valuable liquid freshwater accumulation. Such a lake-tapping hydropower megaproject could allow diverted freshwater to perhaps reach the Pacific Ocean. Here, we cursorily reappraise several similar 20th Century dam and pipeline macroproject proposals, with the educative goal, achieved by careful reconsideration, of exposing the basic megaproject proposal physics related to a potential major future South America hydropower installation. </span></p><p class="-1"><strong><span lang="EN-US"> </span></strong><strong><span lang="EN-US">Key words: </span></strong><span lang="EN-US">hydropower, Macro-Imagineering, Lake Titicaca.</span></p><p class="-1"><span lang="EN-US">=========================================================================== </span></p><p class="-1"><strong>Resumo: </strong>Territorialmente compartilhado pelo Peru e pela Bolívia, o maior lago de água doce da América do Sul, conhecido como Lago Titicaca, está situado em uma bacia endorrêica do altiplano da Cordilheira dos Andes. Atualmente, o Lago Titicaca ainda é regulado principalmente pela natureza local em constante mudança. Mas, após a construção de uma pequena barragem em 2001 d.C. (a uma altitude de 3804 m) situada nas cabeceiras, o rio Desaguadero permanece o único escoadouro natural do lago. Curiosamente, por volta de 1908 d.C., os macro-imaginadores previam a criação de uma segunda saída, completamente artificial, para os 935 km<sup>3</sup> da valiosa água doce líquida. Semelhante megaprojeto hidrelétrico poderia permitir que a água doce desviada alcançasse talvez o Oceano Pacífico. Aqui, reavaliamos várias propostas semelhantes de macroprojetos de barragens e dutos do século XX, com o objetivo educativo, guiado por uma cuidadosa avaliação, de expor a física básica da proposta para uma futura instalação hidrelétrica na América do Sul.</p><p class="-1"><strong>Palavras-chave: </strong>hidrelétrica, Macro-Imaginação, Lago Titicaca.</p>

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