Welcome to the South America affinity group website. This group was established to accelerate research and discoveries focusing on the water and energy cycle of South America. This effort is led by NCAR's Water Systems program and the Hydrometeorological Applications Program (HAP) and fosters collaborations across NCAR and the international research community. NCAR's role in this project is the development of a high-resolution, convection-permitting modeling system for South America, that enables unprecedented insights into atmospheric and hydro-climatologic processes in South America. NCAR closely collaborates with university patterns in the U.S. and South America and supports international research activities such as ANDEX, which is a prospective GEWEX Regional Hydroclimate Project (RHP).

NCAR is organizing regular meetings to foster collaborations on key research challenges in South America and to gather feedback on the project's progress and future direction. Agendas and recordings from past meetings can be found under the "Resources" tab.

A collection of science topics that are proposed by the group can be found in this Google Document. You have to be a group member to view and edit the document. 

This page contains meeting minutes and presentation records. The meetings are organized chronologically starting with the most recent on top.

April 21, 2021

The next SAAG meeting will happen on April 21, 2021, at 10 am MST. 

April 7, 2021

Agenda

• Roy Rassmussen - Welcome and updates
• Roy - Review updated mind map of scientific topics
• Changhai - Update of 3-year simulation status
• Kyoko -  Access to 3-year simulation data
• Roy & Monica -  Update on AGU SAAG session proposal
• Roy - Plans for CPM workshop in Buenos Aires in 2022

Recording

Video Recording

Recording of chat discussion

Presented slides

March 24, 2021

Agenda

• Roy Rassmussen - Welcome and updates
• Roy and Monica - South America session at this years AGU meeting
• Francina Dominquez - Computer request for 20 years WRF simulation
• Roy -  6th CPM Workshop possibly in South America
• Roy Rassmussen -  Discussion on the scientific topics and data access

Recording

Video Recording

Recording of chat discussion

Presented slides

March 10, 2021

Agenda

• Roy - Welcome and updates
• Kyoko Ikeda - Effect of spectral nudging on WRF model performance over South America
• Francina Dominquez - Discussion about proposal for 20-year current and future climate simulatoins

Recording

Video Recording

Recording of chat discussion

Presented slides

February 24, 2021

Agenda

• Roy - Welcome and updates
• Kyoko Ikeda - Evaluation of 2018/19 WRF 4 km simulation precipitation
• Changhai Liu - Computer request for 20-year historic and future South America simulations

Recording

Video Recording

Recording of chat discussion

Presented slides

February 10, 2021

Agenda

• Kyoko Ikeda
• Discussion about WRF output data sharing
• Roy Rasmussen
  • AGU session update
  • 5th CPM workshop this September 2021
  • 6th CPM workshop in South America
• Andreas Prein - Simulating Mesoscale Convective Systems over South America
• Changhai Liu - Computer request for 20-year historic and future South America simulations

Recording

Video Recording

Recording of chat discussion

Presented slides

January 27, 2021

Agenda

• Roy Rasmussen
• Introduction and new group members
• Update from NCAR's 2021 Water Cycle Retreat
• Plans for a South America session at 2021 AGU fall meeting
• Adam Varble (PNNL) - Using CACTI data to study subtropical South American convective cloud systems and their representation in models

Recording

Video Recording

Recording of chat discussion

Presented slides

January 6, 2021

Agenda

• Roy Rasmussen - Introduction and new group members
• Everybody in the SAAG group is invited to NCAR's Water System Retreat (Jan. 20-21, 2021)
• Anton Seimon - Tropical High-Andes Precipitation Studies
• Changhai Liu - Update on 3-year test simulations

Recording

Video recording

Recording of chat discussion

Presented slides

December 16, 2020

Agenda

• Introduction of new group members
• Invitation to participate in NCAR's water system retreat (Jan. 20-21, 2021)
• Plan to organize AGU 2021 session with South America focus
• Next year's 5th CPM & Hazards workshop in Kyoto, Japan (September 4-6, 2021)
  Discussion about having the 6th CPM workshop in South America (need local host)
• Changhai - Update on the WRF model runs
  The production run has started.
• Kyoko - Update on storage of the model output
  
  

Recording

Video recording

Recording of chat discussion

Presented slides

December 2, 2020

Agenda

• Review of Agenda (Roy) 
• Brief introductions of new attendees
• South America web page:
  https://ral.ucar.edu/projects/south-america
  Powerpoints and recording of today’s meeting will be uploaded by Monday

• Patrick Callaghan presentation on variable resolution CESM simulations over SouthAmerica
• Update by German Poveda on ANDEX Regional Hydrological Project (RHP) under GEWEX.
• Update from Changhai on model runs
• Francina update on regional downscaling 
• Thanks to everyone contributing to scientific priorities Google doc by attendees to help finalize the model configuration and storage.

Recording

Video recording

Recording of chat discussion

November 11, 2020

Agenda

• Welcome (Roy and Andreas)
• Brief introduction of new members
• South America website review
• Update of South America WRF simulations (Changhai Liu)
• Mountain Waves over the Drake Passage (Chris Kruse)

Recording

Video Recording

Recording of chat discussion

October 7, 2020

Agenda

• Review of Agenda (Roy)
• Introduction of new members of the community
• Discussion about land surface changes in the Amazon basin
  Andreas - New York Times article
  Francina - Animation of moisture transport in South America
• Discussion of Proposed Science Topics

Recording

Video recording

Recording of chat discussion

September 23, 2020

Agenda

September 9, 2020

Agenda

• Presentation - Luis Fita Borrel
  WRF modeling in South America - using the Orchedee land surface model
• Update on 3 km WRF simulations - Kyoko Ikeda and Changhai Liu
• Update on simulating the diurnal cycle of precipitation - Andreas Prein

Recording

 Video Recording

August 27, 2020

Agenda

• Update from Roy

• Review webpage content
• Changhai and Kyoko will present an update on the model test simulations.
  Analysis of warm bias dependence on aerosol treatment
• Andreas - sub-daily precipitation characteristic in South America test runs

Recording

Video Recording

July 29, 2020

Agenda

• Andy Newman
  GMET - Overview of the Gridded Meteorological Ensemble Tool 
• Kristen Rasmussen
  Ingredients supporting the upscale growth of organized convection in subtropical South America
• Changhai Liu and Kyoko Ikeda
  Update of WRF model performance over South America

Recording

Video recording

Recording of chat discussion

July 8, 2020

Agenda

• Roy Rasmussen - NCAR
  Updates including new member introduction
• Chris Castro - U. of Arizona
  Presentation of planned convective permitting work using CORDEX framework
• Web-site
  Address:   https://ral.ucar.edu/projects/south-america
  Powerpoint and meeting recordings will be uploaded by Monday

• Changhai Liu and Kyoko Ikeda
  Update presentation on convective permitting modeling over South America

• Next meeting: July 29, 2020, 10-11 a.m.

      

   

  Main focus: Group discussion on the next computer request to NCAR Computer Laboratory to perform the twenty-year historical and twenty-year future simulations at 3 km (PGW?). Need to submit in   September 2020.

Recording

Video recording

Audio recording

Recording of chat discussion

June 24, 2020

Agenda

• Roy Rasmussen - NCAR
  Welcome and introduction
• Jeremiah Piesante - CSU
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Synoptic and mesoscale environments associated with South American Thunderstorms
• Web-site update (Roy and Andreas)
• Changhai and Kyoko
  Test simulation update
• Next meeting
  July 8th,10-11.

Recordings

Video recording (not available)

Recording of chat discussion

May 13, 2020

Agenda

• Roy Rasmussen - NCAR
  Welcome and introduction
• Yazmina Rojas - University of Albany
  Assessment of GPM IMERG satellite precipitation estimation and its dependence on microphysical rain regimes, over the mountains of south-central Chile
• Lucia Scaff - University of Saskatchewan
  Observational data availability
• Kate Halladay - Met Office, Hadley Centre
  Convection-permitting climate simulations for CSSP Brazil
• Changhai Liu - NCAR
  South America Simulations for Nov-Dec 2018: PBL Parameterizations & Spectral Nudging Testing

Recordings

Video recording

Recording of chat discussion

Observational Datasets in South America

Many of the regular precipitation and temperature observations in South America are operated by governmental institutions dedicated to water management and forecasting operations. We have gathered some of the publicly available data and combined them with the global datasets that are available in this region.

A summary of observations datasets in South America is published in Condom et al. (2020).

The following table summarizes observational datasets in South America. For further information contact Lucia Scaff (lucia.scaff@usask.ca) or Kyoko Ikeda (kyoko@ucar.edu).

 *many of the websites are in Spanish or Portuguese and need registration

Available Variables from WRF Simulations

Below are summaries of the avalable variables from the planned 20-year long WRF 4 km climate simulation and the currently running 3-year long simulations. Please contact Kyoko Ikeda <kyoko@ucar.edu> if you have questions concerning the model output.

20-year long simulations (planned)

20 year run wrfout file variable -- These are all of the variables produced from the WRF model (v3.9.1 with modifications for Noah-mp LSM for additional LSM variables) used for the 20-year run.  We cannot keep wrfout files due to storage limitations. Thus, the wrfout files will be post-processed and thinned out 1-hrly wrf2d and 3-hrly wrf3d files will be generated (see links below).  It is important for the group to view the master list and make sure that the thinned out wrf2d and wrf3d lists contain all necessary model output variables required for their research.

2-Dimensional model output (wrf2d) 

3-Dimensional model output (wrf3d)

Extreme package model output (wrfxtrm)

3-year long simulations (ongoing)

Wrfout file variables from the 3-year run -- we will keep hourly wrfout files for the 3-yr run but thinned-out 1-hourly wrf2d and 1-hourly wrf3d files will be also generated.

2-Dimensional model output (wrf2d) 

3-Dimensional model output (wrf3d)

Extreme package model output (wrfxtrm)

Proposal for NCAR Computer Resources Request

The University large allocation request that was awarded to Francina Dominguez by NCAR's Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) can be accessed by the members of the South American Affinity group here.

Connecting Mountain Hydroclimate Through the American Cordilleras

In preparation for the ANDEX RHP, a series of research articles was published in a special issue in Frontiers on the topic of "Connecting Mountain Hydroclimate Through the American Cordilleras". 

https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/9969/connecting-mountain-hydroclimate-through-the-american-cordilleras#articles

A Proposed Regional Hydroclimate Project for the United States

This is an NCAR lead effort to establish a GEWEX Regional Hydroclimate Project over the United States. More information can be found in an article that by Schneider and van Oevelen published in GEWEX News Vol. 30, No. 2 | Quarter 2, 2020

https://www.gewex.org/gewex-content/files_mf/1590612006May2020.pdf

 Land use and Land Surface Changes in Sout America

A sub-group of researchers that are interested in studying the impacts of land surface changes on the weather and climate of South America started to coordinate. Initial ideas for targeted experiments and regions of interest are summarized in this document.

This research is motivated by findings as those visualized in this award winning visualization that uses the WRF model to visualize the “beating” pattern that characterizes atmospheric moisture of the Amazon forest - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVP9B_85jfw

Literature about land surface changes in the Amazon Basin

Aguiar, A.P.D., Vieira, I.C.G., Assis, T.O., Dalla‐Nora, E.L., Toledo, P.M., Oliveira Santos‐Junior, R.A., Batistella, M., Coelho, A.S., Savaget, E.K., Aragão, L.E.O.C. and Nobre, C.A., 2016. Land use change emission scenarios: anticipating a forest transition process in the Brazilian Amazon. Global change biology, 22(5), pp.1821-1840.

Alves, L.M., Marengo, J.A., Fu, R. and Bombardi, R.J., 2017. Sensitivity of Amazon regional climate to deforestation. American Journal of Climate Change, 6(1), pp.75-98. 

Eiras‐Barca, J., Dominguez, F., Yang, Z., Chug, D., Nieto, R., Gimeno, L. and Miguez‐Macho, G., 2020. Changes in South American hydroclimate under projected Amazonian deforestation. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Guimberteau, M., Ciais, P., Ducharne, A., Boisier, J.P., Aguiar, A.P.D., Biemans, H., De Deurwaerder, H., Galbraith, D., Kruijt, B., Langerwisch, F. and Poveda, G., 2017. Impacts of future deforestation and climate change on the hydrology of the Amazon Basin: a multi-model analysis with a new set of land-cover change scenarios.

Ruiz-Vásquez, M., Arias, P.A., Martínez, J.A. and Espinoza, J.C., 2020. Effects of Amazon basin deforestation on regional atmospheric circulation and water vapor transport towards tropical South America. Climate Dynamics, pp.1-21.

New York Times article - IN THE AMAZON, TODAY’S ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS BECOME TOMORROW’S CATASTROPHES.

Severe storms in Argentina

Net York Times article - What’s Going on Inside the Fearsome Thunderstorms of Córdoba Province?