On the importance of cascading moisture recycling in South America

Abstract. Continental moisture recycling is a crucial process of the South American climate system. In particular, evapotranspiration from the Amazon basin contributes substantially to precipitation regionally as well as over other remote regions such as the La Plata basin. Here we present an in-depth analysis of South American moisture recycling mechanisms. In particular, we quantify the importance of cascading moisture recycling (CMR), which describes moisture transport between two locations on the continent that involves re-evaporation cycles along the way. Using an Eulerian atmospheric moisture tracking model forced by a combination of several historical climate data sets, we were able to construct a complex network of moisture recycling for South America. Our results show that CMR contributes about 9–10% to the total precipitation over South America and 17–18% over the La Plata basin. CMR increases the fraction of total precipitation over the La Plata basin that originates from the Amazon basin from 18–23 to 24–29% during the wet season. We also show that the south-western part of the Amazon basin is not only a direct source of rainfall over the La Plata basin, but also a key intermediary region that distributes moisture originating from the entire Amazon basin towards the La Plata basin during the wet season. Our results suggest that land use change in this region might have a stronger impact on downwind rainfall than previously thought. Using complex network analysis techniques, we find the eastern side of the sub-tropical Andes to be a key region where CMR pathways are channeled. This study offers a better understanding of the interactions between the vegetation and the atmosphere on the water cycle, which is needed in a context of land use and climate change in South America.

Download Full-text

On the importance of cascading moisture recycling in South America

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-14-17479-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 14 (11) ◽

pp. 17479-17526 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

D. C. Zemp ◽

C.-F. Schleussner ◽

H. M. J. Barbosa ◽

R. J. Van der Ent ◽

J. F. Donges ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

River Basin ◽

Amazon Basin ◽

South American ◽

The South ◽

Wet Season ◽

La Plata ◽

Moisture Recycling ◽

La Plata Basin ◽

Recycling Networks

Abstract. Continental moisture recycling is a crucial process of the South American climate system. Evapotranspiration from the Amazon river basin contributes to precipitation regionally and in the La Plata river basin. Here we present an in-depth analysis of South American moisture recycling. We quantify the importance of "cascading moisture recycling", which describes the exchange of moisture between the vegetation and the atmosphere through precipitation and re-evaporation cycles on its way between two locations on the continent. We use the Water Accounting Model 2-layers (WAM-2layers) forced by precipitation from TRMM and evapotranspiration from MODIS for the period 2001 until 2010 to construct moisture recycling networks. These networks describe the direction and amount of moisture transported from its source (evapotranspiration) to its destination (precipitation) in South America. Model-based calculations of continental and regional recycling ratios in the Amazon basin compare well with other existing studies using different datasets and methodologies. Our results show that cascading moisture recycling contributes about 10% to the total precipitation over South America and 17% over the La Plata basin. Considering cascading moisture recycling increases the total dependency of the La Plata basin on moisture from the Amazon basin by about 25% from 23 to 29% during the wet season. Using tools from complex network analysis, we reveal the importance of the south-western part of the Amazon basin as a key intermediary region for continental moisture transport in South America during the wet season. Our results suggest that land use change in this region might have a stronger impact on downwind rainfed agriculture and ecosystem stability than previously thought.

Download Full-text

INTER-SEASONAL AND INTER-BASINS HYDROLOGICAL COUPLING IN SOUTH AMERICA

Journal of Hydrometeorology ◽

10.1175/jhm-d-20-0080.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Paulo Rodrigo Zanin ◽

Prakki Satyamurty

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Amazon Basin ◽

Winter Season ◽

Western Region ◽

South American ◽

La Plata ◽

La Plata Basin ◽

Precipitation Recycling ◽

Source Sink ◽

Southeastern Region

AbstractThe inter-seasonal and inter-basins hydrological couplings between the Amazon and the La Plata basins are obtained with the help of ERA-5 atmospheric reanalysis, MERGE/CPTEC precipitation, GLEAM evapotranspiration and the GLDAS/Noah soil moisture datasets. The hypotheses formulated by Zanin and Satyamurty (2020a) about the hydrological processes interconnecting the Amazon Basin and the La Plata Basin are tested. A new method for finding the source-sink relationships among the boxes (regions) is presented. The precipitation recycling, frequency of source-sink behaviors, the soil moisture memory and the continental moisture transport between remote regions are evaluated. The main result of this study is that the amount of water precipitated over the Southeastern region of the Amazon Basin at the end of the South American Monsoon during autumn season, influences the amount of precipitation during winter season over the Central-western region of the La Plata Basin.

Download Full-text

Observational evidences on the modulation of the South American Low Level Jet east of the Andes according the ENSO variability

Annales Geophysicae ◽

10.5194/angeo-27-645-2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 645-657 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

G. A. M. Silva ◽

T. Ambrizzi ◽

J. A. Marengo

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

South American ◽

The South ◽

Trade Winds ◽

La Plata ◽

The Andes ◽

La Plata Basin ◽

Normal Frequency ◽

Rainfall Anomalies ◽

Low Level Jet

Abstract. The differences on the phase and wavelength of the quasi-stationary waves over the South America generated by El Niño (EN) and La Niña (LN) events seem to affect the daily evolution of the South American Low Level Jet east of the Andes (SALLJ). For the austral summer period of 1977–2004 the SALLJ episodes detected according to Bonner criterion 1 show normal to above-normal frequency in EN years, and in LN years the episodes show normal to below-normal frequency. During EN and LN years the SALLJ episodes were associated with positive rainfall anomalies over the La Plata Basin, but more intense during LN years. During EN years the increase in the SALLJ cases were associated to intensification of the Subtropical Jet (SJ) around 30° S and positive Sea Level Pressure (SLP) anomalies over the western equatorial Atlantic and tropical South America, particularly over central Brazil. This favored the intensification of the northeasterly trade winds over the northern continent and it channeled by the Andes mountain to the La Plata Basin region where negative SLP are found. The SALLJ cases identified during the LN events were weaker and less frequent when compared to those for EN years. In this case the SJ was weaker than in EN years and the negative SLP anomalies over the tropical continent contributed to the inversion of the northeasterly trade winds. Also a southerly flow anomaly was generated by the geostrophic balance due to the anomalous blocking over southeast Pacific and the intense cyclonic transient over the southern tip of South America. As result the warm tropical air brought by the SALLJ encounters the cold extratropical air from the southerly winds over the La Plata basin. This configuration can increase the conditional instability over the La Plata basin and may explain the more intense positive rainfall anomalies in SALLJ cases during LN years than in EN years.

Download Full-text

Contribution of Extreme Convective Storms to Rainfall in South America

Journal of Hydrometeorology ◽

10.1175/jhm-d-15-0067.1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 353-367 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

K. L. Rasmussen ◽

M. M. Chaplin ◽

M. D. Zuluaga ◽

R. A. Houze

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

Amazon Basin ◽

Austral Summer ◽

Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ◽

Life Cycles ◽

High Resolution Data ◽

Tropical Regions ◽

Convective Storms ◽

La Plata ◽

La Plata Basin

Abstract The contribution of extreme convective storms to rainfall in South America is investigated using 15 years of high-resolution data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR). Precipitation from three specific types of storms with extreme horizontal and vertical dimensions have been calculated and compared to the climatological rain. The tropical and subtropical regions of South America differ markedly in the influence of storms with extreme dimensions. The tropical regions, especially the Amazon basin, have aspects similar to oceanic convection. Convection in the subtropical regions, centered on La Plata basin, exhibits patterns consistent with storm life cycles initiating in the foothills of the Andes and growing into larger mesoscale convective systems that propagate to the east. In La Plata basin, convective storms with a large horizontal dimension contribute ~44% of the rain and the accumulated influence of all three types of storms with extreme characteristics produce ~95% of the total precipitation in the austral summer.

Download Full-text

Parallel Expressions: Artistic Contributions of Italian Immigrants in the Río de la Plata Basin of South America at the Time of Simon Rodia

Sabato Rodia's Towers in Watts ◽

10.1515/9780823260669-013 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 205-222

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

Rio De La Plata ◽

Río De La Plata ◽

La Plata ◽

La Plata Basin ◽

Italian Immigrants

Download Full-text

Exposure to 19 elements via water ingestion and dermal contact in several South American environments (La Plata Basin): From Andes and Atlantic Forest to sea front

Microchemical Journal ◽

10.1016/j.microc.2019.103986 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 149 ◽

pp. 103986 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

E. Avigliano ◽

C. Clavijo ◽

P. Scarabotti ◽

S. Sánchez ◽

S. Llamazares Vegh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atlantic Forest ◽

South American ◽

Dermal Contact ◽

La Plata ◽

Water Ingestion ◽

La Plata Basin

Download Full-text

South American Missions

Latin American Studies ◽

10.1093/obo/9780199766581-0244 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Cameron Jones

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

Amazon Basin ◽

Colonial Period ◽

Indigenous Populations ◽

South American ◽

Extensive Experience ◽

Republican Period ◽

The North ◽

Bourbon Reforms ◽

Franciscan Order

While it is certainly true that more academic studies have focused on the North American missions, in terms of their historical impact South American missions were just as important to the frontiers of Spain and Portugal’s American empires. The massive size alone of the frontier region, stretching from the upper reaches of the Amazon basin to the headwaters of the Paraná as well as stretching across the lower Southern Cone, meant numerous missionary enterprises emerged in an attempt to evangelize the peoples who inhabited these regions. While small handfuls of Dominicans, Mercedarians, and Augustinians would engage in such efforts, most missions were established by the Jesuits or Franciscans. Certainly, for the Jesuits, or the Society of Jesus as they are properly known, American missions represented an extension of the Counter-Reformation for which they were created. Starting in the mid-16th century, this relatively new organization, founded in 1534, began in earnest to “reduce” the Indigenous peoples into their missions. These activities, however, abruptly ended when the Jesuits were expelled from both the Portuguese and Spanish empires in 1759 and 1767 respectfully. The much older Franciscan order had extensive experience in popular missions in Europe and was one of the first orders of regular clergy in the Americas. Franciscans, like the Jesuits, engaged in evangelizing activities throughout both North and South America from the colonial period to the present. The expulsion of the Jesuits, however, pushed them further to the forefront of missionizing efforts in the late colonial period. This acceleration of Franciscan missionary activity was aided by the establishment of the Apostolic Institute in 1682. The Institute created a pipeline of missionaries from Spain to come directly to frontier areas with funding from the crown. While this aided missionary efforts throughout South America, particularly in areas abandoned by the Jesuits, it embroiled the missionaries in the politics of the Bourbon reforms and their obsession with limited clerical power. Ultimately, while missionizing efforts continued into the Republican period, their association with the Spanish and Portuguese crowns led to widespread suppression and secularization following independence. The historiographical divide in the field tends to lie between usually older, Eurocentric histories by scholar-clerics which focus on the missionaries themselves, and newer studies carried out by more secular professional historians that examine how Indigenous populations were affected by the inherent imperialism of the missions, though exceptions abound.

Download Full-text