A Sea Breeze Study during Ticosonde-NAME 2004 in the Central Pacific of Costa Rica: Observations and Numerical Modeling

Surface and upper air observations and MM5v3 simulations examined the structure and inland penetration of sea breeze (SB) along the Grande de Tárcoles river basin (GTRB), central Pacific, Costa Rica, for two different intensity regimes of the Caribbean Low-Level Jet (CLLJ). Data comprise the period of 1 July to 16 September 2004 from Ticosonde-North American Monsoon Experiment, and a local University of Costa Rica-National Meteorological Institute field campaign. Maximum precipitation occurs between 14:00–17:00 LST, showing a time lag of 2 to 3 h after the temperature maximum, suggesting that local diurnal heating is key to convection. July–August precipitation exhibited a rainfall decrease along GTRB due to the SB dynamical processes interaction with a strong CLLJ. The SB maximum inland incursion was 24 km, with no evidence of its penetration into the Central Valley. The MM5v3 simulations for two convective and boundary layer (BL) schemes captured some SB structure features along the GTRB. Comparison of model results with observed data shows deficiencies in the model representation of the surface flow near coastal regions. Differences may be the result of time lag model’s poor responses to actual early morning BL sea–land temperature gradients. MM5v3 configurations used in this study resulted in biased wind speed simulations.

Download Full-text

Two new species of Pleurothallis (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae) from Costa Rica in the P. phyllocardia group

Lankesteriana ◽

10.15517/lank.v17i2.29850 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Franco Pupulin ◽

Melissa Díaz-Morales ◽

Melania Fernández ◽

Jaime Aguilar

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Costa Rica ◽

Mountain Region ◽

Central Pacific ◽

Two New Species ◽

The Caribbean

Two new species of Pleurothallis subsection Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae from Costa Rica are described and illustrated, and their relationships discussed. Pleurothallis pudica, from the central Pacific mountain region, is compared with P. phyllocardia, but it is easily recognized by the densely pubescent- hirsute flowers. Pleurothallis luna-crescens, from the Caribbean slope of the Talamanca chain, is compared with P. radula and P. rectipetala, from which it is distinguished by the dark purple flowers and the distinctly longer, dentate petals, respectively. A key to the species of the group in Costa Rica and western Panama is presented.

Download Full-text

Relación entre el estrés y las bacterias entomopatógenas Pantoea (Erwinia) agglomerans (herbicola) y Bacillus cereus en jobotos (Col: Melolonthidae) (Phyllophaga spp., Anomala spp. y Cyclocephala spp.), en Costa Rica.

Agronomía Mesoamericana ◽

10.15517/am.v9i2.19466 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 25

Author(s):

Edgar Vargas ◽

Giselle Abarca

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Bacillus Cereus ◽

Central Valley ◽

Adult Mortality ◽

Pantoea Agglomerans ◽

Stress Factors ◽

White Grub ◽

Central Pacific ◽

White Grubs ◽

Factors Affecting

Concentrations of Colony Forming Units (CFU) were determined for two entomopathogenic bacteria (Pantoea agglomerans and Bacillus cereus), at the egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages of agriculturally important Phyllophaga and Cyclocephala white grubs, which were collected in five agroecosystems in Costa Rica. L2 and L3 larvae of Phyllophaga elenans collected in all regions where the study was conducted were extensive carriers of Pantoea agglomerans and Bacillus cereu. L2 and L3 larvae of Phyllophaga obsoleta, Phyllophaga menetriesi, Cyclocephala sanguinicollis and Cyclocephala castaniella found in the Central Valley and Central Pacific regions were carriers of Pantoea agglomerans and Bacillus cereus bacteria. In 60% to 90% of larvae in all white grub varieties studied, Pantoea agglomerans showed greater concentrations of CFU than Bacillus cereu, which showed the lowest CFU concentration. Egg, pupal, and adult mortality in all Phyllophaga species was due to Pantoea agglomerans in 62%, 80% and 22.5% of the cases, respectively. A possible antagonistic interaction between Pantoea agglomerans and Bacillus cereus is also discussed. In general, it was noted that light and larval manipulation were the main stress factors affecting these scarabids.

Download Full-text

Caracterización del “veranillo” en dos cuencas de la vertiente del Pacífico de Costa Rica, América Central

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v62i4.20010 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 62 (4) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Eric J. Alfaro

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Summer Drought ◽

Trade Winds ◽

Monthly Data ◽

Tropical Regions ◽

The Pacific ◽

Low Level Jet ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Pacific Slope

<p>The Eastern Tropical Pacific region is characterized by climate features rarely observed in tropical regions, one of them is the Mid-Summer Drought (MSD), “veranillo” or “canícula” in Spanish. On the Pacific slope of Central America, the annual precipitation cycle is characterized by two rainfall maxima in June and September-October, an extended dry season from November to May, and a shorter reduced precipitation period during July–August (MSD), during July, the magnitude of the trade winds increases and this is associated also with the Caribbean Low Level Jet (CLLJ), but characterization of these features using monthly data is difficult. In this work, seven daily gauge stations records, located at two important river basins of Costa Rica, Tarcoles and Tempisque, were studied to characterize the MSD from 1937 to 2012. Among the aspects considered are the MSD Start, Timing, End, Duration, Intensity and Magnitude. The modulation and seasonal predictability of these aspects by climate variability sources as Equatorial Eastern Pacific was lately explored, showing that warmer (cooler) conditions in Niño 3.4 tend to be associated to drier (wetter) MSD events. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (Suppl. 4): 1-15. Epub 2014 Diciembre 01.</p><div> </div>

Download Full-text

Hydrogeological responses in tropical mountainous springs

Memorias del I Congreso Internacional de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales ◽

10.15359/cicen.1.37 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Isotope Composition ◽

Central Valley ◽

Distribution Functions ◽

Geochemical Composition ◽

Transit Times ◽

Management Plans ◽

Best Fit ◽

Term Data

This study presents a hydrogeochemical analysis of spring responses (2013-2017) in the tropical mountainous region of the Central Valley of Costa Rica. The isotopic distribution of δ18O and δ2H in rainfall resulted in a highly significant meteoric water line: δ2H = 7.93×δ18O + 10.37 (r2=0.97). Rainfall isotope composition exhibited a strong dependent seasonality. The isotopic variation (δ18O) of two springs within the Barva aquifer was simulated using the FlowPC program to determine mean transit times (MTTs). Exponential-piston and dispersion distribution functions provided the best-fit to the observed isotopic composition at Flores and Sacramento springs, respectively. MTTs corresponded to 1.23±0.03 (Sacramento) and 1.42±0.04 (Flores) years. The greater MTT was represented by a homogeneous geochemical composition at Flores, whereas the smaller MTT at Sacramento is reflected in a more variable geochemical response. The results may be used to enhance modelling efforts in central Costa Rica, whereby scarcity of long-term data limits water resources management plans.

Download Full-text

Geomorphology of the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica

Journal of Maps ◽

10.1080/17445647.2019.1600592 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 363-371 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Adolfo Quesada-Román ◽

Paula M. Pérez-Briceño

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Caribbean Coast ◽

The Caribbean

Download Full-text

Sea-Breeze Dynamics and Convection Initiation: The Influence of Convective Parameterization in Weather and Climate Model Biases

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-14-00850.1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 28 (20) ◽

pp. 8093-8108 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Cathryn E. Birch ◽

Malcolm J. Roberts ◽

Luis Garcia-Carreras ◽

Duncan Ackerley ◽

Michael J. Reeder ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Model ◽

Global Climate ◽

Global Climate Model ◽

Sea Breeze ◽

Early Morning ◽

Sea Temperature ◽

Convective Parameterization ◽

Study Approach ◽

Climate Model Simulations ◽

Convection Initiation

Abstract There are some long-established biases in atmospheric models that originate from the representation of tropical convection. Previously, it has been difficult to separate cause and effect because errors are often the result of a number of interacting biases. Recently, researchers have gained the ability to run multiyear global climate model simulations with grid spacings small enough to switch the convective parameterization off, which permits the convection to develop explicitly. There are clear improvements to the initiation of convective storms and the diurnal cycle of rainfall in the convection-permitting simulations, which enables a new process-study approach to model bias identification. In this study, multiyear global atmosphere-only climate simulations with and without convective parameterization are undertaken with the Met Office Unified Model and are analyzed over the Maritime Continent region, where convergence from sea-breeze circulations is key for convection initiation. The analysis shows that, although the simulation with parameterized convection is able to reproduce the key rain-forming sea-breeze circulation, the parameterization is not able to respond realistically to the circulation. A feedback of errors also occurs: the convective parameterization causes rain to fall in the early morning, which cools and wets the boundary layer, reducing the land–sea temperature contrast and weakening the sea breeze. This is, however, an effect of the convective bias, rather than a cause of it. Improvements to how and when convection schemes trigger convection will improve both the timing and location of tropical rainfall and representation of sea-breeze circulations.

Download Full-text

The Caribbean Carretera : Race, Space and Social Liminality in Costa Rica

Bulletin of Latin American Research ◽

10.1111/1470-9856.00004 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 46-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Russell Leigh Sharman

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

The Caribbean

Download Full-text

Intra and inter annual variation in a seagrass meadow on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica: 2009-2015

Revista de Biología Tropical ◽

10.15517/rbt.v66i3.31035 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 66 (3) ◽

pp. 1149 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Margarita Loría-Naranjo ◽

Jimena Samper-Villarreal ◽

Marylaura Sandoval-Siles ◽

Jorge Cortés

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Leaf Area ◽

Turnover Rate ◽

Seagrass Meadow ◽

Seagrass Beds ◽

Seagrass Bed ◽

Monitoring Methods ◽

Caribbean Coast ◽

Area Index ◽

The Caribbean

Seagrass beds are an important ecosystem on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. At Cahuita National Park (CNP) a seagrass bed at Perezoso has been monitored continually since 1999 within the CARICOMP program. Thalassia testudinum is the dominant seagrass species, in some cases mixed with Syringodium filiforme. The results from the 2009 to 2015 monitoring period are presented here, and contrasted with data before 2009. Total (above and below ground tissue) mean biomass of T. testudinum was higher (1 255.4 ± 146.0 gm-2) than biomass before 2009, with an increasing tendency. However, productivity (1.5±0.59 gm-2d-1) and turnover rate (4.3 ± 1.22 %d-1) were lower than previous monitoring periods. In this period, mean leaf area diminished considerably (4.9 ± 2.30 m2), but leaf area index (LAI) increased (1.9 ± 0.80 m2leafm-2) in comparison to prior monitoring. Productivity, density, turnover rate, LAI and biomass showed intra-annual variations; while mean biomass of T. testudinum did not vary significantly among years. No correlations were found between water salinity, temperature and clarity with seagrass measurements. However, most seagrass parameters were strongly correlated with precipitation. These results highlight the effect of external environmental agents acting on the ecosystem. CNP presents a long-term stable seagrass meadow. However, there are indirect signals, such as high biomass and above-ground biomass proportion, along with low productivity and LAI, which point to a nutrient increment in Perezoso’s seagrass bed. To continue protecting this seagrass bed, it is necessary to improve monitoring methods, and seagrass beds should be included in national conservation policies and monitoring programs.

Download Full-text