HR: 14:15h
AN: A33B-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Influence of Sea Surface Temperature and Soil Moisture on Precipitation Over the Southwest United States
AU: * Mo, K
EM: kingtse.mo@noaa.gov
AF: Climate Prediction Center, 5200 Auth Rd., Camp Springs, Md 20746, United States
AU: Wu, W
EM: wanru.wu@noaa.gov
AF: Climate Prediction Center, 5200 Auth Rd., Camp Springs, Md 20746, United States
AB: Influence of sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) and soil moisture on precipitation (P) over the Southwest is examined using the reconstructed SST data and the hydrologic conditions simulated by the VIC North Land Data Assimilation System from 1915- 2003. Arizona and New Mexico belong to two different precipitation regions. They have different moisture sources and should be examined separately. The relationships between winter and summer precipitation for both AZ and NM vary from one period to another and are controlled by the SSTs. For the recent period (1960-2000), there was a strong inverse relationship between winter (January-March) and summer (July-September) P for Arizona when tropical SSTAs persist from winter to summer. When SSTAs in the North Pacific are strong, wetness or dryness in Arizona persists from winter to summer. For New Mexico, summer precipitation is modulated by SSTAs in the tropical Pacific and SSTAs in the tropical Atlantic over the western hemisphere warm pool area. For Arizona, strong evaporation in spring depreciates soil moisture.Total soil moisture reaches a minimum before the monsoon onset in July. Soil moisture does not influence monsoon onset. The variability of soil moisture over Arizona and New Mexico is small in summer. Soil moisture seems to play a secondary role in modulating monsoon rainfall.
DE: 1866 Soil moisture
DE: 3339 Ocean/atmosphere interactions (0312, 4504)
DE: 4215 Climate and interannual variability (1616, 1635, 3305, 3309, 4513)
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly