Characteristics of Precipitating Storms in Glacierized Tropical Andean Cordilleras of Peru and Bolivia

Perry, L. Baker; Seimon, Anton; Andrade, Marcos; Endries, Jason L.; Yuter, Sandra E.; Velarde, Fernando; Arias, Sandro; Bonshoms, Martí; Burton, Eric J.; Winkelmann, I. Ronald; Cooper, Courtney; Mamani, Guido; Rado, Maxwell; Montoya, Nilton; Quispe, Nelson

doi:10.1080/24694452.2016.1260439

Cited by 28 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The bright band height mostly lies between 4 to 5 km altitude. This is somewhat consistent with the past studies and observed bright band height for the other stations over the Andes mountain [17,18,37]. The probability of bright band height decreases sharply after 5.0 and 4.7 km during DJFM and SON seasons respectively.…”

Section: Field Campaign and Reanalysis Datasupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The rain gauge observations from Cusco and the Cordillera Vilcanota also exhibit a nighttime precipitation maximum in stratiform precipitation [17]. Perry et al [37] investigated the characteristics of precipitating storms over the Glacierized Tropical Andean Cordilleras of Peru and Bolivia using ground-based radar. They revealed the dominance of higher nighttime stratiform precipitation and explained that rainfall mainly generated due to the interaction between easterly moist and westerly flow at different pressure levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rainfall Characteristics in the Mantaro Basin over Tropical Andes from a Vertically Pointed Profile Rain Radar and In-Situ Field Campaign

et al. 2020

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Information on the vertical structure of rain, especially near the surface is important for accurate quantitative precipitation estimation from weather and space-borne radars. In the present study, the rainfall characteristics, from a vertically pointed profile Radar in the Mantaro basin (Huancayo, Peru) are observed. In summary, diurnal variation of near-surface rainfall and bright band height, average vertical profiles of the drop size distribution (DSD), rain rate, radar reflectivity (Ze) and liquid water content (LWC) are investigated to derive the rainfall characteristics. Diurnal variation of rain rate and bright band height show the bimodal distribution, where frequent and higher rain rate occurred during the afternoon and nighttime, and more than 70% bright band height found between 4.3–4.7 km. The average vertical profiles of Ze show the opposite characteristics above and below the melting level (ML) and depend on the near-surface rain rate. For example, the average Ze profiles have a negative gradient above the ML, whereas below, the ML, the gradient depends on the near-surface rain rate. The rain rate and LWC show the opposite behavior, and both consist of a positive (negative) gradient below (above) the ML. The vertical growth of DSD parameters depend on the near-surface rain rate, and a higher concentration of large-sized of droplets are observed for higher near surface rain rate, however, the dominant modes of droplets are <1 mm throughout the vertical column. However, the most significant variation in DSD growth is observed for near-surface rain rate ≥20 mm/h. These findings suggest using different retrieval techniques for near surface rain estimation than the rest of the vertical profile and high rain rate events. The improved understanding of the tropical Andes precipitation would be very important for assessing climate variability and to forecast the precipitation using the numerical models.

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Section: Field Campaign and Reanalysis Datasupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rainfall Characteristics in the Mantaro Basin over Tropical Andes from a Vertically Pointed Profile Rain Radar and In-Situ Field Campaign

et al. 2020

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“…From August 2014 to February 2015, a MRR was installed in the city of Cusco, (13.5278°S, 71.9508°W) at the SENAMHI office (at a distance of~1 km from the Airport [see also Perry et al, 2017]). We compute the altitude of the melting layer using the minute-resolution MRR data and an algorithm that includes several checks to filter unrealistic values.…”

Section: Micro Rain Radar Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

The freezing level in the tropical Andes, Peru: An indicator for present and future glacier extents

et al. 2017

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Along with air temperatures, the freezing level height (FLH) has risen over the last decades. The mass balance of tropical glaciers in Peru is highly sensitive to a rise in the FLH, mainly due to a decrease in accumulation and increase of energy for ablation caused by reduced albedo. Knowledge of future changes in the FLH is thus crucial to estimating changes in glacier extents. Since in situ data are scarce at altitudes where glaciers exist (above ~4800 m above sea level (asl)), reliable FLH estimates must be derived from multiple data types. Here we assessed the FLHs and their spatiotemporal variability, as well as the related snow/rain transition in the two largest glacier‐covered regions in Peru by combining data from two climate reanalysis products, Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar Bright Band data, Micro Rain Radar data, and meteorological ground station measurements. The mean annual FLH lies at 4900 and 5010 m asl, for the Cordillera Blanca and Vilcanota, respectively. During the wet season, the FLH in the Cordillera Vilcanota lies ~150 m higher compared to the Cordillera Blanca, which is in line with the higher glacier terminus elevations. Coupled Model Intercomparison Project version 5 (CMIP5) climate model projections reveal that by the end of the 21st century, the FLH will rise by 230 m (±190 m) for Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6 and 850 m (±390 m) for RCP8.5. Even under the most optimistic scenario, glaciers may continue shrinking considerably, assuming a close relation between FLH and glacier extents. Under the most pessimistic scenario, glaciers may only remain at the highest summits above approximately 5800 m asl.

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“…In fact, the limited moisture reaching southern Peru is mainly transported from the lowlands on the east side of the Andes mountains through upslope winds, which are predominantly affected by the upper-level local zonal wind anomalies, with easterly winds favouring wet conditions and westerly winds favouring dry conditions in southern Peru (Garreaud, 1999;Garreaud et al, 2003;Perry et al, 2014). The northerly wind may also contribute some portion of the region's moisture transport according to trajectory analyses (Perry et al, 2014(Perry et al, , 2017, but no significant correlation has been identified between the meridional wind anomalies and local precipitation in our study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficacy of tendency and linear inverse models to predict southern Peru's rainy season precipitation

Notaro

Vavrus

et al. 2018

Intl Journal of Climatology

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Southern Peru receives over 60% of its annual climatological precipitation during the short period of January–March. This rainy season precipitation exhibits strong inter‐annual and decadal variability, including severe drought events that incur devastating societal impacts and cause agricultural communities and mining facilities to compete for limited water resources. Improving existing seasonal prediction models of summertime precipitation could aid in water resource planning and allocation across this water‐limited region. While various underlying mechanisms modulating inter‐annual variability have been proposed by past studies, operational forecasts continue to be largely based on rudimentary El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO)‐based indices, such as Niño3.4, justifying further exploration of predictive skill. To bridge the gap between understanding precipitation mechanisms and operational forecasts, we perform systematic studies on the predictability and prediction skill of southern Peru's rainy season precipitation by constructing statistical forecast models using best available weather station and reanalysis data sets. We construct a simple regression model, based on the principal component (PC) tendency of tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures (SST), and a more advanced linear inverse model (LIM), based on the empirical orthogonal functions of tropical Pacific SST and large‐scale atmospheric variables from reanalysis. Our results indicate that both the PC tendency and LIM models consistently outperform the ENSO‐only based regression models in predicting precipitation at both the regional scale and for individual station, with improvements for individual stations ranging from 10 to over 200%. These encouraging results are likely to foster further development of operational precipitation forecasts for southern Peru.

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Characteristics of Precipitating Storms in Glacierized Tropical Andean Cordilleras of Peru and Bolivia

Cited by 28 publications

References 45 publications

Rainfall Characteristics in the Mantaro Basin over Tropical Andes from a Vertically Pointed Profile Rain Radar and In-Situ Field Campaign

Rainfall Characteristics in the Mantaro Basin over Tropical Andes from a Vertically Pointed Profile Rain Radar and In-Situ Field Campaign

The freezing level in the tropical Andes, Peru: An indicator for present and future glacier extents

Efficacy of tendency and linear inverse models to predict southern Peru's rainy season precipitation

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