Variabilidade do teor e do transporte de vapor d’água com relação à temperatura da superfície do mar.

Abstract

The present study aims to analyze water vapor content (TVA) and transport (TrVA) in lower (700 hPa), middle (700 to 500 hPa) and upper levels (500 to 300 hPa), in respect to the sea surface temperature variability of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The study consisted of the annual analysis of events in which there was simultaneously a La Niña episode and a warm (LNAQ) tropical South Atlantic (ATS), and an El Niño episode and a cold (ENAF) ATS. The data analyzed in the study were collected from NCEP‟s (National Center for Environmental Prediction) reanalysis project website. With the aid of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) mesoscale modeling system, the following items were evaluated: the interference of oceanic variability for the ENAF and LNAQ years; Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE); Lifting Condensation Level (LCL); potential temperature (θ) and relative humidity (UR). The results showed that ATS SST anomalies had a direct influence on lower-level TVA, in both the LNAQ and ENAF years. In middle and upper levels, the main cause of water vapor content and transport variability was the Pacific SST, where TrVA anomaly patterns were identified, especially in mid-levels. It was observed that, for the central part of Northeast Brazil, the main variability mechanism is the ENSO, while for the coastal regions, it is the Atlantic SST.