Increasing Variability Observed in Dry Season Length and Precipitation in Southwestern Amazonia
Topics: Environment
, Climatology and Meteorology
, Latin America
Keywords: Amazon, climate, deforestation, remote sensing, rainforest, environment
Session Type: Virtual Guided Poster Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 63
Authors:
Scott LaRocca, University of Richmond, Virginia
Yunuen Reygadas Langarica, University of Richmond, Virginia
Stephanie Spera, University of Richmond, Virginia
David Salisbury, University of Richmond, Virginia
Valerie Galati, University of Richmond, Virginia
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Abstract
The Amazon rainforest is home to extraordinary biological and cultural diversity and plays a crucial role in the carbon and water cycles of the planet. However, increasing pressures due to anthropogenic disturbance and global climate changes are altering the climatological patterns upon which the system depends. The Amazon both influences and is influenced by regional climate, driving in part the rainfall which supports the present ecosystem. Recent research has discussed increasing droughts and duration of the dry-season across parts of the Amazon basin. Yet these patterns are regionally variable, and thus more research is required into trends across localities and spatial scales. Here we focus on southwest Amazonia, in the transboundary region spanning Ucayali, Peru and Acre, Brazil. We investigated trends in dry-season duration and quantity of precipitation in both wet and dry-seasons in the 38-year period from 1981-2019. We utilized a gridded dataset of precipitation from the Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) product, and validated this with a network of observational rain gauge data from meteorological stations spanning the study area. Contrary to findings in other regions of Amazonia, our CHIRPS results show a trend of decreasing dry-season length, but we note that we found no trend in the observational station data. Importantly, our results highlight trends of increasing variability in dry-season length and dry and wet-season precipitation in both CHIRPS and meteorological station data. This decrease in wet and dry season predictability has implications for both the ecosystem and human populations in Amazonia.
Increasing Variability Observed in Dry Season Length and Precipitation in Southwestern Amazonia
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Virtual Guided Poster Abstract
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