@article{4b89d72454a6463cbd2c016604bfb6fa,
title = "Moisture origin and transport processes in Colombia, northern South America",
abstract = "We assess the spatial structure of moisture flux divergence, regional moisture sources and transport processes over Colombia, in northern South America. Using three independent methods the dynamic recycling model (DRM), FLEXPART and the Quasi-isentropic back-trajectory (QIBT) models we quantify the moisture sources that contribute to precipitation over the region. We find that moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and terrestrial recycling are the most important sources of moisture for Colombia, highlighting the importance of the Orinoco and Amazon basins as regional providers of atmospheric moisture. The results show the influence of long-range cross-equatorial flow from the Atlantic Ocean into the target region and the role of the study area as a passage of moisture into South America. We also describe the seasonal moisture transport mechanisms of the well-known low-level westerly and Caribbean jets that originate in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, respectively. We find that these dynamical systems play an important role in the convergence of moisture over western Colombia.",
keywords = "Atmospheric moisture transport processes, Colombian climate and variability, Oceanic moisture source, Recycling and terrestrial moisture sources",
author = "I. Hoyos and F. Dominguez and J. Ca{\~n}{\'o}n-Barriga and Mart{\'i}nez, {J. A.} and R. Nieto and L. Gimeno and Dirmeyer, {P. A.}",
note = "Funding Information: This research has been supported by the USAID-NSF PEER program (Cycle 1, project 31) and the Universidad de Antioquia through its programs CODI (Convocatoria Program?tica 2013 , Project PRG 13-2-03), Project PI12-1-03 and Fondo de Pasajes Internacionales. Isabel Hoyos is also supported by the Programa Enlazamundos from Alcald?a de Medell?n. Francina Dominguez is funded by NSF award AGS 1045260. Raquel Nieto and Luis Gimeno acknowledge funding by the Spanish MINECO and FEDER within the project TRAMO. Raquel Nieto is also supported by the CNPq Grant 314734/2014-7 by the Brazilian Government. The TRMM data used in this study were acquired as part of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). The algorithms were developed by the TRMM Science Team. The data were processed by the TRMM Science Data and Information System (TSDIS) and the TRMM office; they are archived and distributed by the Goddard Distributed Active Archive Center. TRMM is an international project jointly sponsored by the Japan National Space Development Agency (NASDA) and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Earth Sciences. The authors thank the valuable comments and suggestions of the anonymous reviewers that greatly improve the final version of the paper. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.",
year = "2018",
month = feb,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1007/s00382-017-3653-6",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "50",
pages = "971--990",
journal = "Climate Dynamics",
issn = "0930-7575",
publisher = "Springer Verlag",
number = "3-4",
}