The role of Amazon Basin moisture on the atmospheric branch of the hydrological cycle: a Lagrangian analysis
Abstract. We used a Lagrangian model (FLEXPART) and the 1979–2012 ERA Interim reanalysis data to investigate the role of Amazon Basin moisture in the regional hydrological budget along the year. FLEXPART computes budgets of evaporation minus precipitation by calculating changes in the specific humidity along forward and backwards trajectories. The Tropical Atlantic (TA) is the major remote moisture source for Amazon Basin. Northern TA contributes during the Austral Summer mainly, while the contribution of southern TA prevails in the rest of the year. On the other hand, moisture contribution from Amazon Basin occurs for southeastern South America predominantly. A focus was given for the modulation of ENSO over the inter annual variations in the hydrological budget over Amazon. During El Niño events, the contribution from NA increases from June/year 0 to January/year 1 slightly and the contribution from SA is enhanced during Austral Autumn/year 1. Enhanced transport from Amazon towards Southeastern South America prevails during an El Niño episode.