Rainfall prediction illustration.

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iBase ID

291926

Creator

Taylor, Eric S.

Title

Rainfall prediction illustration.

Type

Illustration

Date

04/18/2006

File name

Rainfall_prediction-PO.jpg

Notes

Produced for a news release featuring Ray Schmitt, Laifang Li, and Caroline Ummenhofer.
Used in Oceanus magazine, Vol. 52, No. 2, pgs. 6 and 7.
Image Of the Day caption:
New research on the global water cycle by WHOI scientists Laifang Li, Ray Schmitt, and Caroline Ummenhofer have found links between saltier regions in the Atlantic Ocean in the spring and increased summer rainfall over areas of Africa and the U.S. The discovery offers potential breakthroughs to predict regional rainfall. Water vapor evaporates from the ocean, leaving it saltier. The vapor is transported via the atmosphere over land, where it falls as rain. Moist soil draws solar energy that warms the ground and causes water to evaporate and rise. That eventually draws in moisture-laden air from nearby water bodies, resulting in heavier summer rainfall in Africa and the Midwest.
Caption from WHOI news release:
Top: Winds evaporate water from the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean, leaving behind high levels of salinity during the spring. The exported moisture makes its way to the African Sahel, where it soaks the arid land and gradually builds up soil moisture over the course of three months. The soil moisture couples with convection in the atmosphere to create a feedback loop that draws in additional moisture from the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. This increases precipitation during the summer African monsoon season.
Bottom: In the western North Atlantic, higher springtime salinities are an indicator of enhanced moisture export onto the continental U.S., which converges in the South. This greatly increases soil moisture there, allowing the Sun's energy to evaporate water leading to more atmospheric convection on land. The intensified convection on land draws in more moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and leads to the enhancement of the Great Plains Low Level Jet, which carries moisture to the upper Midwest in summer.

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