Mesoscale modeling of the convective climate of western Colombia and the gulf of Panama

Rainfall in western Colombia and the concave Gulf of Panama are among the highest in the world. A distinctive diurnal cycle is evident, suggesting the importance of daily land-sea temperature contrasts on both a local scale (for convective initiation) and a regional scale (for the low-level jet along the South American coast). Based on satellite observations of this region, we have attempted to use the MM5 mesoscale model with nested grids to simulate the essential processes.

In this conference, our observational analysis of the convection climatology in this area will be presented, along with our efforts to date toward obtaining an adequate control simulation. Experimental runs, with changes to the ocean-land boundary conditions such as removal of mountains, alteration of the SST pattern, or alteration of the coastal geometry, will be used to disentangle the roles of these geographical features.