Atmospheric water vapor plays an important role in climatic processes. It is an important link connecting various components of the hydrologic cycle and provides the mechanism for energy exchange among many of the Earth system components. A better understanding of water vapor's role in the hydrologic cycle requires long-term observations of small- and large-scale water vapor features. Satellites have the potential to provide high resolution measurements that are not available from conventional surface and radiosonde networks.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the spatial distribution and temporal changes of satellite derived water vapor associated with large-scale convection, cold surges locally known as "friagens", and local land-sea breeze and mountain-valley circulations which contributes to the rainfall patterns evident in the Amazon Basin. Total integrated water content (IWC) or precipitable water, retreived from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) is used to estimate atmospheric water vapor. The study region spans 25 degrees by 40 degrees latitude-longitude area encompassing the Amazon Basin and surrounding fringes. This area was chosen for its meteorological interest and relative paucity of conventional observations.
A case study example of each meteorological event (e.g., cold surge in June 6, 1988) is selected to investigate the spatial and
temporal changes of IWC in the Amazon Basin. In addition to the satellite derived water vapor estimates, surface and upper-air reanalyses of the National Centers for Environmental
Prediction (NCEP)-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are used to identify the large-scale and regional weather pattens associated with these events.
The analysis of satellite derived IWC is conducted within the framework of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to examine the distribution and temporal evolution of moisture over the Amazon for selected case study events. This paper will provide a better understanding of the variability of precipitable water in Amazon Basin
which is one of the goals of the Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) program.