Interdecadal variability of Southeastern South America rainfall and moisture sources during the austral summertime

Abstract

Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over the tropical oceans are able to generate extratropical atmospheric circulation anomalies that can induce rainfall variability and changes in the sources of moisture. The work reported here evaluates the interdecadal changes in the moisture sources for southeastern South America (SESA) during austral summer, and it is divided into two complementary parts. In the first part the authors construct a climate network to detect synchronization periods among the tropical oceans and the precipitation over SESA. Afterward, taking into account these results, the authors select two periods with different degrees of synchronization to compare the spatial distribution of the SESA moisture sources. Results show that during the last century there were three synchronization periods among the tropical oceans and the precipitation over SESA (during the 1930s, 1970s, and 1990s) and suggest that the main moisture sources of SESA are the recycling over the region, the central-eastern shore of Brazil together with the surrounding Atlantic Ocean, and the southwestern South Atlantic surrounding the SESA domain. Comparison of SESA moisture sources for the 1980s (a period of nonsignificant synchronization) and the 1990s (a synchronized period) shows that the principal differences are in the intensity of the recycling and in the strength of the central-eastern shore of Brazil. Moreover, the authors find that a region centered at (20°S, 300°E) is a moisture source for SESA only during the 1990s. These differences can be associated with the development of a low-level anticyclonic (cyclonic) anomaly circulation over central-eastern Brazil that favors the transport of moisture from central Brazil (central-eastern shore of Brazil) toward SESA in the 1990s (1980s)