The atmospheric water cycle over South America as seen in the new generation of global reanalyses

Abstract

In this study the main features of the hydrological cycle over the South American region are documented with three reanalysis datasets and two observation-derived precipitation products. Rather than attempting to "close the water balance" that requires additional terms, many model dependent, we focus on the individual terms of the water cycle. An additional analysis is also presented in this work to investigate the role of the transport of moisture over the La Plata Basin (LPB) and South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ) in the precipitation regimes from 1979 to 2007. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.