Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-20T14:25:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao_maria_arita_garcia.pdf: 8113106 bytes, checksum: fba0a4bf56d450b9bee5e250f53be0b8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-18 / This research aims to analyze the monthly variations of rainfall in Rio Grande do Sul (RS) relating to monthly changes in the average thickness of the troposphere (700mb) at the bottom of the Southern Hemisphere, which is centered in the region of Antarctica. Monthly anomalies of atmospheric thickness have been represented by principal oscillation pattern that is called the Arctic Oscillation Index. This study is important because RS has played an important role in national agricultural production, and the variable rainfall has been identified as a key role in the productivity of different regional cultures. During the study, monthly rainfall data from 32 meteorological stations in RS has been used, which has been correlated with the Arctic Oscillation Index. The Arctic Oscillation Index has been obtained directly from Climate Prediction Center and the study period has been from 1979 to 2008 and, the correlations between the monthly rainfalls have been tested considering the time lags of index 0, -1, -2, -3 months. The results of the climatology have showed that rainfall in these last three decades have presented patterns and distributed monthly throughout the year and lower values to the south and higher to the north and northwest. The largest temporal gradient in RS has occurred between the months of October and November, with their maximum and minimum respectively. The Antarctic Oscillation Index has had its greatest variations in the middle of winter and the smallest variations in late summer. The more significant correlations of rainfall in RS and the index have been mostly reversed (by the way the index is built). The highest correlation has been between the rainfall for the month of May and the index also the month of May especially in the northern half of the RS. In the southern half of RS, the changes in the index in March have shown a higher correlation considering rainfall in March and April. The highest correlations in the northwestern part of RS have been happening between the rainfall of November and November Index and the central region of RS has been showing significant correlations in December with the index in November. Among the best results (the highest correlations) it has been highlighted those correlations of the months of March, April and May. From the average rate for the quarter, the extremes of the index have been identified and climatologies of rainfall have been calculated for the two groups (six negative extreme cases and six positive extreme cases). During the negative rainfall period, the index of quarterly rainfall has been exceeding by up to 50% the positive rainfall period, mainly in the south and west of RS. The negative period has been associated to the intensification of high polar consequently it has also been associated to the intensification of the polar jet, thus the most organized cold fronts pass through the RS, while in positive periods the weakening of the high polar and changes in zonal flow of the subtropical jet have been happening, reducing the intensity of cold fronts. / Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar as variações mensais da precipitação no Rio Grande do Sul (RS) e suas relações com as variações mensais da espessura da camada média da troposfera (700mb) na parte inferior do Hemisfério Sul, centrada na região da Antártica. As Anomalias mensais da espessura atmosférica são representadas pelo padrão de oscilação principal, denominado de Índice AAO (Arctic Oscillation Index). A importância deste estudo justifica-se pelo RS ter um papel importante na produção agrícola nacional, sendo a variável precipitação apontada como fator fundamental na produtividade de diversas culturas regionais. Na pesquisa foram utilizados dados de precipitação mensal de 32 estações meteorológicas no RS, as quais foram correlacionadas com o índice AAO. O índice AAO foi obtido diretamente CPC (Climate Prediction Center) e o período de estudo foram de 1979 a 2008, sendo que as correlações entre as precipitações mensais do RS foram testadas com defasagens temporais do índice de 0, -1, -2, -3 meses. Os resultados da climatologia mostram que a precipitação nestas ultimas 3 décadas apresentaram padrões mensais bem distribuídos ao longo do ano, com menores valores ao sul e maiores ao norte e noroeste. O maior gradiente temporal no RS ocorre entre os meses de outubro e novembro, com seus máximos e mínimos respectivamente. O Índice de Oscilação Antártica tem suas maiores variações no meio do inverno e as menores variações no final de verão. As correlações mais significativas da precipitação no RS e o índice foram predominantemente inversas (pela forma como foi construído o índice). As maiores correlações foram entre as precipitações do mês de maio e o Índice também do mês de maio, especialmente na metade norte do RS. Na metade sul do RS, as variações do Índice no mês de março apresentam alta correlação com as precipitações de março e de abril. A parte noroeste do RS as maiores correlações foram entre as precipitações de novembro e o Índice de novembro, Na região central do RS apresentam correlações significativas em dezembro com o Índice de novembro. Entres os melhores resultados (maiores correlações) destacam-se as correlações nos meses de março, abril e maio. A partir do índice médio deste trimestre foram identificados os casos extremos do índice e calculado as climatologias das precipitações para os dois grupos (6 casos extremos negativos e 6 casos extremos positivos). A climatologia mostra que para o período negativo do índice a precipitação acumulada trimestral supera em até 50% a do período positivo, principalmente no sul e oeste do RS. O período negativo está associado à intensificação da alta polar, conseqüentemente intensificação o jato polar e frentes frias mais organizadas passam pelo RS, enquanto que nos períodos positivos ocorre enfraquecimento da alta polar e alteração no fluxo zonal do jato subtropical, reduzindo a intensidade das frentes frias.

For the first time, vertical water vapour profiles were measured in the Central Arctic North of 85°N during the MOSAiC campaign (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate). Continuous measurements of the Raman lidar PollyXT are used to retrieve high-resolved vertical profiles of the water vapour mixing ratio (WVMR) during the polar night. The collected data are calibrated and evaluated by use of selected clear-sky profiles between 25 October 2019 and 29 February 2020. Three different calibration methods are applied using reference data from radiosonde launches or microwave radiometer (MWR) measurements, respectively. The calibration with the least error results from a linear fit between collocated radiosonde and lidar measurements and delivers a final calibration constant of 15.96 ± 0.37 g/kg for the period from 25 Oct 2019 to 29 Feb 2020. The calibrated WVMR profiles are analysed regarding the vertical distribution of water vapour in the Arctic, its impact on the downward thermal-infrared radiation (DTIR) at the surface, and its relation to the Arctic Oscillation (AO) index as a measure for the general atmospheric circulation. The Arctic atmosphere is very dry during the winter time with WVMR values below 2 g/kg. The vertical water vapour distribution is strongly related to the temperature profile. Layers with higher WVMR values are often capped by temperature inversions. Layers with higher integrated water vapour values (IWV) are located either close to the surface (coupled) or in an elevated layer (decoupled), related to local or advective processes, respectively. The impact of the vertical distributed water vapour on the clear-sky DTIR at the surface was investigated by evaluating the evolution of the air mass at the measurement location over several hours for seven clear-sky cases. The relation between the measured DTIR at the surface and the lidar IWV shows a linear correlation for each case, but with a shift in the radiation values depending on the temperature of the vertical distributed water vapour. The impact of the IWV on the DTIR is determined to be 9.33 − 15.03 W/kg from the example cases. Beside, a linear correlation is found between the temperature of the vertical distributed water vapour and the radiation temperature of the sky, which is derived from the Stefan-Boltzmann’s Law. Both results depict the high impact of the atmospheric water vapour profile on the surface energy budget during clear-sky winter conditions. The influence of the atmospheric circulation on the vertical water vapour distribution in the Arctic is investigated by use of the AO index. While very stable conditions with a weak exchange with lower latitudes are expected during the positive phase of the AO, a stronger meridional transport is related to the negative phase of the AO. The evaluation of 71 randomly selected clear-sky profiles shows differences in the amount and the vertical structure of each WVMR profile between the two phases. Higher WVMR values and layers with higher IWV are observed during the negative AO phase. Nonetheless, a high variability between dry and humid cases is seen during all phases of the AO due to synoptic events. Two main sources for water vapour in the Eastern Central Arctic are identified independent of the AO. These are cyclones on the one hand and the occurrence of a main wind direction from the seas north of Siberia namely Laptev, Kara and Barents Sea on the other hand. In summary, the thesis discusses different calibration methods for the derivation of WVMR profiles from Raman lidar measurements in its first part. In the second part, the thesis gives an overview over the vertical water vapour distribution in the Central Arctic winter and its complex relation to temperature profiles, radiation measurements at the surface and the atmospheric circulation.