Abstract. This study provides an overview of precipitation processes and their sensitivities to environmental conditions in the Central Amazon Basin near Manaus during the GoAmazon2014/5 and ACRIDICON-CHUVA experiments. This study takes advantage of the numerous measurement platforms and instrument systems operating during both campaigns to sample cloud structure and environmental conditions during 2014 and 2015; the rainfall variability among seasons, aerosol loading, land surface type, and topography has been carefully characterized using these data. Differences between the wet and dry seasons were examined from a variety of perspectives. The rainfall rates distribution, total amount of rainfall, and raindrop size distribution (the massweighted mean diameter) were quantified over both seasons.The dry season generally exhibited higher rainfall rates than the wet season and included more intense rainfall periods. However, the cumulative rainfall during the wet season was 4 times greater than that during the total dry season rainfall, as shown in the total rainfall accumulation data. The typical size and life cycle of Amazon cloud clusters (observed by satellite) and rain cells (observed by radar) were examined, as were differences in these systems between the seasons. Moreover, monthly mean thermodynamic and dynamic variables were analysed using radiosondes to elucidate the differences in rainfall characteristics during the wet and dry seasons. The sensitivity of rainfall to atmospheric aerosol loading was discussed with regard to mass-weighted mean diameter and rain rate. This topic was evaluated only durPublished by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. L. A. T. Machado et al.: Overview: Precipitation characteristics and sensitivities to environmental conditionsing the wet season due to the insignificant statistics of rainfall events for different aerosol loading ranges and the low frequency of precipitation events during the dry season. The impacts of aerosols on cloud droplet diameter varied based on droplet size. For the wet season, we observed no dependence between land surface type and rain rate. However, during the dry season, urban areas exhibited the largest rainfall rate tail distribution, and deforested regions exhibited the lowest mean rainfall rate. Airplane measurements were taken to characterize and contrast cloud microphysical properties and processes over forested and deforested regions. Vertical motion was not correlated with cloud droplet sizes, but cloud droplet concentration correlated linearly with vertical motion. Clouds over forested areas contained larger droplets than clouds over pastures at all altitudes. Finally, the connections between topography and rain rate were evaluated, with higher rainfall rates identified at higher elevations during the dry season.

A new dataset based on 5 yr of operational meteorological weather radars from the Amazon Protection System has enabled new knowledge in relation to rainfall in the Amazon basin. The rainy features are analyzed for 10 different regions in terms of the annual and diurnal cycles of radar reflectivity, as well as the vertical distribution, in addition to lightning data. Similarities between the annual and diurnal cycles are found in the northwestern and western, southwestern and southern, and northeastern and northern Amazon. Nocturnal peaks are found in stratiform fraction in the southern, southwestern, western, northwestern, northern, central western, and coastal regions. The convective fractions in the western, northwestern, northern, and central eastern regions also show nocturnal peaks. The radar reflectivity vertical distributions analysis indicates that in the northern coast close to Belém, heavy rainfall with deep convective systems is observed throughout the year, while heavy rainfall in the central Amazon close to Manaus, Tefé, and Santarém occurs in the dry season. More oceanic-like clouds are also observed there and in other locations on the northern coast like Macapá, where the frequency of lightning is quite low. São Gabriel da Cachoeira, located in the northwest portion of the Amazon basin, has a regime with rainfall in all seasons with a slight decrease from August to October when the systems become more convective and have more lightning.

O objetivo da investigação foi analisar vazões extremas ocorridas entre 9 e 14 de abril de 2011 na bacia do Rio Araguari-AP. A metodologia consistiu de três etapas principais: 1) re-análise da precipitação estimada pelo Modelo BRAMS (Brazilian in Development Regional Atmospheric Model System),utilizando como suporte a sinótica do mesmo período; 2) análise de vazão nas seções de monitoramento hidrológico em Porto Platon, Capivara e Serra do Navio (ADCP-Accustic Doppler Profiller Current); 3) análise estatística da série histórica de vazões máximas em Porto Platon utilizando distribuição de Gumbel. Observou-se que o modelo BRAMS capturou parcialmente o padrão do sistema de precipitação quando comparado com a análise sinótica e com os dados da literatura, mas demandando ainda otimização na representação de respostas hidrológicas extremas. Em Porto Platon foi registrada uma vazão recorde de 4036 m3/s, cujo comportamento foi analisado sob a ótica dos mecanismos disponíveis de monitoramento no Estado. Concluiu-se que tais eventos extremos são pouco detectáveis e oferecem riscos consideráveis aos usuários da bacia. A previsão de vazão, baseada na série hidrológica disponível, era de 100 anos de retorno, mas as análises revelaram que este período seria de 360 anos, indicando significativa fragilidade do sistema de previsão de eventos extremos no Estado.

A importância da previsão meteorológica para períodos muito curtos de tempo (nowcasting) tem crescido nos últimos anos, devido ao aumento considerável de desastres naturaiscomo enchentes, deslizamentos de terra, rajadas de vento, etc. Nesse contexto, o uso do equipamento radar meteorológico tem grande utilidade operacional, na detecção e acompanhamento de fenômenos meteorológicos adversos de curto prazo. A Região Metropolitana de Belém (RMB) é uma das regiões mais populosas da Amazônia. Nos últimos anos vem apresentando uma ocupação urbana desordenada, o que talvez possa ser uma das causas dos problemas que a população sofre com os alagamentos e inundações. Os eventos extremos ocorridos durante o ano de 2009 foram identificados e analisados com o uso do TITAN (Thunderstorm Identification, Tracking, Analysis and Nowcasting). Os resultados mostram que 66% dos eventos extremos ocorreram na estação chuvosa, sendo devido a três principais sistemas meteorológicos, a Zona de Convergência Intertropical (ZCIT), a interação desta com a Zona de convergência do Atlântico Sul (ZCAS) e as Linhas de Instabilidade (LI) em sua maioria originadas na brisa marítima. Os resultados mostram também que os sistemas de menor escala, como as LI, apresentam severidade maior por provocar altas taxas de precipitação horária.