Study of the spatio-temporal variability of convection in the tropical region of South America

• Grant number: 99/06045-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 1999
• End date: November 30, 2001
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Meteorology
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Augusto Toledo Machado
• Grantee: Luiz Augusto Toledo Machado
• Host Institution: Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço (IAE). Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial (DCTA). Ministério da Defesa (Brasil). São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims to study, in the tropical region, the relationships between climatic variability, organization of convection and the impact on the surface (vegetation stress). The objective of this project is to increase the knowledge and understanding of the climatic fluctuations in the tropical zone, studying the organization and the variability of the convective systems, which are the key element in the atmospheric processes, and the impact of this variability on the surface. This project is divided into three parts. The first topic of study consists of the development of tools for the analysis of the convection and of the climate. These tools will be useful in the processing of the satellite images obtained during the implementation of the project. This information, added to the observations obtained in experiments (LBA), projects (PIRATA) and in the Alcântara Launch Center (ALC), will consist of a set of data to be processed in the second topic. This data will be used to carry out case studies, making it possible to analyze in detail the convective system of the continent, in the coastal region and in the ocean and their relationships with the fluxes on the surface. The third topic consists of the analysis of historical series of data aimed at obtaining a climatological description of the frequency of occurrence of the convective systems and of the interdiurnal, intraseasonal and interannual variability of the cloud cover. In association with this analysis, we will analyze the variability of the stress in vegetation on a climatic scale, aiming to relate the variability of the loud cover to the variations in the conditions on the surface. (AU)