P2.14
Mesoscale satellite climatologies in costa rica
Bernadette H. Connell, CIRA/Colorado State Univ., Ft. Collins, CO; and V. Castro Leon
Costa Rica is a small country with many contrasts. It is bounded by the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west and has a mountain range that runs north-south along the center of the country. Being at low latitudes, is experiences both drier and wetter seasons and the extent of these seasons vary considerably within the country. To date, the distribution of rainfall throughout the country has been obtained through analysis of raingage and stream flow measurements. Archives of GOES satellite imagery were started in January 1997 to examine cloud frequency distributions throughout the year and look at how these frequencies compare with the distribution of rainfall throughout the year. On the Pacific side of the country, December through April are considered dry months. On the Caribbean side of the country, these months are considered less rainy and most of the precipitation comes from stratiform clouds. High resolution visible imagery better represent the cloud frequency during these months because the warm stratiform clouds are difficult to detect against the background terrain features in infrared imagery. During the rainy season (May-November), cloud frequency is better represented by infrared temperature threshold techniques. Being in close proximity to ocean, sunglint poses a significant problem for visible cloud frequency techniques. Hightlights of results will be presented for both the wet and dry seasons and differences observed from year to year.
Poster Session 2, Climatology and Long-term Satellite Studies
Monday, 15 October 2001, 2:15 PM-4:00 PM
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