Preliminary Foundings from an Experimental Hydrometeorological Network in the North American Monsoon Region

Several studies have highlighted the utility of GPS-MET to monitor atmospheric water vapor. Among the advantages mentioned are the ability to measure precipitable water vapor under any atmospheric conditions without contamination of hydrometeoro. In southern Arizona, GPS-MET has been used since the summer of 2002, especially to estimate water vapor during the North American monsoon. So far, several studies have highlighted the ability of this technique to detect convective events related to precipitation, eg Adams et al. (2013). Other studies in southern Arizona have shown behavior similar to that found by Adams and coauthors but at shorter time scales. In this presentation we will present a characterization of convective events for the years 2009 and 2010, obtained by studying the precipitable water vapor series of the station located in Tucson, Arizona