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Editor's Highlight
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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 35,
L03815,
doi:10.1029/2007GL031404,
2008
Water vapor and surface observations in northwestern Mexico during the 2004 NAME Enhanced Observing Period
E. R. Kursinski
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
R. A. Bennett
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
D. Gochis
Research Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA
S. I. Gutman
NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA
K. L. Holub
NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, USA
R. Mastaler
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
C. Minjarez Sosa
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA Departamento de Fisica, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
I. Minjarez Sosa
Departamento de Geologia, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
T. van Hove
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Abstract
We report on precipitable water vapor (PWV) from a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and surface meteorological network
during the 2004 North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME) in northwestern Mexico. The monsoon onset is evident as a large PWV
increase over several days beginning July 1. Data in the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) foothills reveal a dynamical transition
in mid-August from smaller, sub-synoptic scale to larger, synoptic scale moisture structure. During the Sub-synoptic phase
in the SMO foothills, a positive feedback operates where near-daily precipitation supplied moisture maintains 15% higher surface
mixing ratios that lower the lifting condensation level facilitating initiation of moist convection. Along the western edge
of the SMO, precipitation typically occurs hours after the local temperature maximum, triggered by westward propagating convective
disturbances. Precipitation is typically preceded by a rapid rise in PWV and sharp decrease in surface temperature, implying
models must include moist convective downdrafts in the NAM area.
Received 25
July
2007;
accepted 23
November
2007;
published 14
February
2008.
Keywords: water vapor;
monsoon;
GPS.
Index Terms: 1840 Hydrology: Hydrometeorology; 1855 Hydrology: Remote sensing (1640); 1836 Hydrology: Hydrological cycles and budgets (1218, 1655); 1655 Global Change: Water cycles (1836); 1220 Geodesy and Gravity: Atmosphere monitoring with geodetic techniques (6952).
Read Full Article (file size: 355654 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Kursinski, E. R., R. A. Bennett, D. Gochis, S. I. Gutman, K. L. Holub, R. Mastaler, C. Minjarez Sosa, I. Minjarez Sosa, and T. van Hove
(2008),
Water vapor and surface observations in northwestern Mexico during the 2004 NAME Enhanced Observing Period,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
35,
L03815,
doi:10.1029/2007GL031404.
Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.
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