Marco Otto

Cross-scale precipitation variability in a semi-arid catchment area on the western slopes of the Central Andes

AbstractSpatiotemporal precipitation patterns were investigated on the western slopes of the central Andes Mountains by applying EOF and cluster analysis as well as the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. In the semiarid catchment area in the highlands of Lima, Peru, the precipitation is assumed to be a cross-scale interplay of large-scale dynamics, varying sea surface temperatures (SSTs), and breeze-dominated slope flows. The EOF analysis was used to encompass and elucidate the upper-level circulation patterns dominating the transport of moisture. To delineate local precipitation regimes, a partitioning cluster analysis was carried out, which additionally should illustrate local effects such as the altitudinal gradient of the Andes. The results demonstrated that especially during the transition to the dry season, synoptic-scale circulation aloft controls the precipitation (correlation coefficients between 0.6 and 0.9), whereas in the remaining seasons the slope breezes due to the altitudinal gr...