Eventos extremos de chuva em Salvador: uma abordagem matemático-estatística do ambiente atmosférico.

Abstract

The objective in this study is to characterize the rainfall regime of Salvador on various time scales, with a focus on extreme rainfall events, and to identify large scale atmospheric circulation patterns related to such events. The period of study is from 1964 to 2009. Mathematical-statistical methods (Percentiles, Linear Correlation, Wavelet Analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Cluster Analysis) were applied to observational precipitation and gridpoint reanalysis data. The percentile technique applied to daily precipitation time series allowed to classify as extreme events daily rainfall totals equal to or greater than 50 mm. The main rainy period, from April to July, has 61% of all events. The linear correlation analysis identified a direct relation between the occurrence of extreme events and above-normal monthly rainfall totals. The wavelet analysis indicated that the events are related to, at least, three types of oscillations on the intraseasonal time scale: up to 12 days, 12-24 days and 48-96 days, suggesting the contribution of synoptic scale systems such as easterly disturbances and frontal systems, and planetary scale circulations as the Madden-Julian Oscillation. The PCA applied to reanalysis data identified low level patterns depicting the equatorial trough/ITCZ, southern mid-latitude waves and SACZ, the last one related to summer month events (December-January-February). The pattern of the main rainy period has a wavelike structure in the southern westerlies. All patterns show an inverted trough in eastern Northeast and the nearby oceanic area, a result of the propagation /interaction of tropical-extratropical atmospheric systems. At high levels (200 hpa), the summer pattern shows the Bolivian high displaced northeastward, and the upper level trough located over the tropical Atlantic. The dominating structure in the winter patterns (June-July-August) is: (a) southern mid-latitude waves propagating toward low latitudes, or (b) a difluence area close to the equator related to the ITCZ.