Amplified seasonal cycle in hydroclimate over the Amazon river basin and its plume region

Yu-Chiao Liang (), Min-Hui Lo, Chia-Wei Lan, Hyodae Seo, Caroline C. Ummenhofer, Stephen Yeager, Ren-Jie Wu and John D. Steffen
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Yu-Chiao Liang: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Min-Hui Lo: National Taiwan University
Chia-Wei Lan: National Taiwan University
Hyodae Seo: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Caroline C. Ummenhofer: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Stephen Yeager: National Center for Atmospheric Research
Ren-Jie Wu: National Taiwan University
John D. Steffen: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract The Amazon river basin receives ~2000 mm of precipitation annually and contributes ~17% of global river freshwater input to the oceans; its hydroclimatic variations can exert profound impacts on the marine ecosystem in the Amazon plume region (APR) and have potential far-reaching influences on hydroclimate over the tropical Atlantic. Here, we show that an amplified seasonal cycle of Amazonia precipitation, represented by the annual difference between maximum and minimum values, during the period 1979–2018, leads to enhanced seasonalities in both Amazon river discharge and APR ocean salinity. An atmospheric moisture budget analysis shows that these enhanced seasonal cycles are associated with similar amplifications in the atmospheric vertical and horizontal moisture advections. Hierarchical sensitivity experiments using global climate models quantify the relationships of these enhanced seasonalities. The results suggest that an intensified hydroclimatological cycle may develop in the Amazonia atmosphere-land-ocean coupled system, favouring more extreme terrestrial and marine conditions.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18187-0

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