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.
January 27, 2021
The next SAAG meeting will be on Jan. 27, 2021
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
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
- Review of Agenda (Roy)
- Update on current high-resolution modeling work - Changhai Liu
- Relampago MCS cases in WRF test runs - Andreas Prein
- Update by Francina Dominguez on her Sept. request to extend the previous request from Sept. 9th until May 2021.
- Summary of past request: Two runs conducted for two months in preparation for final test run consisting of three years, one El Nino, one La Nina, one neutral. The outcome of these runs will form the basis for the March 2021 submission to CISL for Cheyenne supercomputer time to perform the 20 years present and 20 years future 3 km simulations over South America.
- Discussion on the request for 20 years current and 20 years future WRF simulation over South America at 3 km grid spacing.
Deadline for submission: March 2021 for the University Large Allocation request. - Date and time for next meeting (Oct. 7th, 10-11 MST?)
Recording
No video recording available
Chat recording
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
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
Recording
Video recording
Audio recording
Recording of chat discussion
June 24, 2020
Agenda
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

List of active participants
Bacmeister, Julio | juliob@ucar.edu |
Bettolli, María Laura | bettolli@at.fcen.uba.ar |
Brasseur, Guy | brasseur@ucar.edu |
Callaghan, Patrick | patc@ucar.edu |
Chang, Hsin-I | hchang05@email.arizona.edu |
Chen, Fei | feichen@ucar.edu |
Christopher, Castro | clcastro@arizona.edu |
Dai, Aiguo | adai@albany.edu |
Dominguez, Francina | francina@illinois.edu |
Dudhia, Jimy | dudhia@ucar.edu |
Fita, Lluis | lluis.fita@cima.fcen.uba.ar |
Gochis, David | gochis@ucar.edu |
Gutmann, Ethan | gutmann@ucar.edu |
Halladay, Kate | kate.halladay@metoffice.gov.uk |
Ikeda, Kyoko | kyoko@ucar.edu |
Kendon, Elizabeth | elizabeth.kendon@metoffice.gov.uk |
Kruse, Christopher | ckruse@ucar.edu |
Landolt, Scott | landolt@ucar.edu |
Liu, Changhai | chliu@ucar.edu |
Masiokas, Mariano | mmasiokas@mendoza-conicet.gob.ar |
Miguez, Gonzalo | gonzalo.miguez@usc.es |
Minder, Justin | jminder@albany.edu |
Molina, Maria | molina@ucar.edu |
Neale,Richard | rneale@ucar.edu |
Newman, Andrew | anewman@ucar.edu |
Otero Piersante, Jeremiah | otero@rams.colostate.edu |
Poveda, Germán | gpoveda@unal.edu.co |
Prein, Andreas | prein@ucar.edu |
Puhales, Franciano | franciano.puhales@ufsm.br |
Rasmussen, Kristen | kristenr@rams.colostate.edu |
Rasmussen, Roy | rasmus@ucar.edu |
Rene Garreaud | |
Rojas, Yazmina | yrojas@albany.edu |
Scaff, Lucia | lucia.scaff@usask.ca |
Schneider, Timothy | tls@ucar.edu |
Solman, Silvina | solman@cima.fcen.uba.ar |
Somos, Marcelo | marcelo.somos@ufrontera.cl |
Tessendorf, Sarah | saraht@ucar.edu |
Van Oevelen, Peter | pvanoevelen@gewex.org |
Vuille, Mathias | mvuille@albany.edu |
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).
datasource | country | type | variables | Period | spatial res. | temporal res. | Data Access* | Additional Info |
IANIGLA- SSRH | Argentina | stations | PR TMAX TMIN | 2010-2020* | point | daily | Link | |
INMET | Brazil | stations | PR TMAX TMIN RH DT Pressure Wind radiation | 2010-2018* | point | hourly | Link | Link |
CAMELS- CR2met | Chile | stations | PR TMAX TMIN | 1979-2016 | point | daily | Link | Link |
CAMELS- CR2met | Chile | gridded | PR TMAX TMIN | 1979-2018 | 0.05deg | daily | Link | Link |
CAMELS- CHIRPS | Chile | gridded | PR | 1981-2016 | 0.05deg | daily | Link | Link |
CAMELS- MSWEP | Chile | gridded | PR | 1979-2016 | 0.25deg | daily | Link | Link |
CAMELS- TMPA | Chile | gridded | PR | 1998-2016 | 0.25deg | daily | Link | Link |
IDEAM | Colombia | stations | PR | | point | daily | Link | Link |
SENAMHI | Peru | gridded | PR TMAX TMIN | 1981-2017 | 0.1deg | daily | Link | Link |
NCEI | Global | stations | | | | | Link | |
TRMM 3B42 V7.0 | Lat 60°N-S | gridded | PR | 2000-present | 0.25 deg | 3hrly | Link | Link |
GPM- IMERG V06 | Lat 90°N-S | gridded | PR | 2000-present | 0.1 deg | 30 min, 3hrs, 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 1mo | Link | Link |
Argentina National Weather Service (updated on Aug. 26, 2020) | Argentina | stations | PR, T, Wind, Clouds, and others | 2018 | point | hourly | LINK | Dr. Lluís Fita Borrell |
*many of the websites are in Spanish or Portuguese and need registration
WRF model Setup
Suggested list of WRF output variables - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wk1OKXcxXSaafuf76dSrfH8P2MAqSYxn/view?usp=sharing
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?