Analysis of Possible Triggering Mechanisms of Severe Thunderstorms in the Tropical Central Andes of Peru, Mantaro Valley

Autor: Daniel Martínez Castro, Shailendra Kumar, Aldo Saturnino Moya Álvarez, Elver Edmundo Villalobos Puma, Yamina Silva Vidal, José Luis Flores Rojas
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Atmospheric Science
Granizo
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
0208 environmental biotechnology
Andes
02 engineering and technology
lcsh:QC851-999
Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
Sea-breeze circulations
01 natural sciences
Hailstorms
purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#1.05.00 [http]
Atmosphere
sea-breeze circulations
Perú
Lluvia
Synoptic scale meteorology
Huancayo
Model simulations
eu-repo/semantics/article [info]
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
hailstorms
purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#1.05.09 [http]
geography
Plateau
geography.geographical_feature_category
inertia gravity waves
Inertia gravity waves
Westerlies
Junín
Central andes
thunderstorms
Thunderstorms
020801 environmental engineering
central andes
Anticyclone
Climatology
Weather Research and Forecasting Model
Dinámica atmosférica
Tormentas eléctricas
Thunderstorm
lcsh:Meteorology. Climatology
model simulations
Geology
Geostrophic wind
Zdroj: Atmosphere
Volume 10
Issue 6
IGP-Institucional
Instituto Geofísico del Perú
instacron:IGP
CONCYTEC-Institucional
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica
instacron:CONCYTEC
Atmosphere, Vol 10, Iss 6, p 301 (2019)
ISSN: 2073-4433
DOI: 10.3390/atmos10060301
Popis: The aim of the present study is to analyze the triggering mechanisms of three thunderstorms (TSs) associated with severe rainfall, hail and lightening in the tropical central Andes of Peru, specifically above the Huancayo observatory (12.04 ∘ S, 75.32 ∘ W, 3313 m a.s.l.) located in the Mantaro valley during the spring-summer season (2015&ndash
2016). For this purpose, we used a set of in-situ pluviometric observations, satellite remote sensing data, the Compact Meteorological Ka-Band Cloud Radar (MIRA-35C), the Boundary Layer Tropospheric Radar and downscaling model simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model (resolutions: 18 km, 6 km and 2 km), and the Advance Regional Prediction System (ARPS) (resolution: 0.5 km) models in order to analyze the dynamic of the atmosphere in the synoptic, meso and local scales processes that control the occurrence of the three TS events. The results show that at synoptic scale, the TSs are characterized by the southern displacement of the South-east Pacific Subtropical Anticyclone up to latitudes higher than 35 ∘ S, by the weakening and south-eastern displacement of the Bolivian high&ndash
North east low system and by the intrusion of westerly winds along the west side of the central Andes at upper and medium levels of the atmosphere. At meso-scale, apparently, two important moisture fluxes from opposite directions are filtered through the passes along the Andes: one from the north-west and the other from the south-east directions converge and trigger the deep convection into the Mantaro valley. These moisture fluxes are generated by the intrusion of the sea-breeze from the Pacific ocean along the west of the Andes coupling with upper and middle westerly winds and by the thermally induced moisture fluxes coming from the South American low level jet at the east side of the Andes. At the local scale, there is a low-level conditional instability in the previous hours as well as during the occurrence of the TSs above the Huancayo observatory. In addition, the simulation results indicated the possibility of generation of inertial gravity waves in the Amazon basin, associated with geostrophic adjustment which transports energy and moisture into the central Andes plateau and consequently intensifies the thunderstorms above the Mantaro valley.
Databáze: OpenAIRE