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  • Chilean Orographic and Mesoscale Precipitation Study (ChOMPS) Data

    Description:
    The Andes Cordillera, which runs the length of South America and rises up to 5,000 m MSL within 200 km of the Pacific coast, dramatically influences the distribution of winter precipitation and snowpack over Chile and Argentina. The study of orographic precipitation processes, particularly along the western slopes of the Andes, is important to improve forecasts of severe flooding and snowpack in a region that depends on snowmelt for water resources. While orographic effects have been investigated on synoptic scales in the Andes, the lack of operational radar coverage and high-elevation, long-term precipitation records have, before the present study, precluded an in-depth investigation into the mesoscale and microphysical processes that affect the distribution of precipitation in the region. This dataset was collected during the Chilean Orographic and Mesoscale Precipitation Study (ChOMPS), which, from May-October 2016, investigated the evolution of precipitation amounts, dropsize distribution, and the vertical profile of radar echoes along an east-west transect that stretched from the Pacific coast to the windward slope of the Andes. The transect, at ~36°S, was made up of a coastal site upstream of the coastal mountain range (Concepción), a central valley site (Chillán), and a mountain site (Las Trancas). Instrumentation along the transect included three vertically pointing Micro-Rain-Radars, two Parsivel Disdrometers, and several meteorological stations. The dataset documents the evolution of Doppler velocity and reflectivity profiles with inland extent during early, middle, and late storm sectors. Additionally, the transect provides a season-long record of the inland evolution of melting layer height as well as the prevalence and structure of shallow non-brightband rain and the characteristics of its inland penetration to the central valley. This dataset, the first of its kind in the Chilean Andes, provides unique insight into mesoscale and orographic precipitation processes that also have applicability to the west coast of the United States and other mountainous regions.
    Subject:
    Meteorology
    Creator:
    Campbell, Leah S., Minder, Justin, and Garreaud, Rene
    Contributor:
    Steenburgh, Jim, Rojas, Yazmina, Viscarra, Also, Montecinos, Aldo, Veloso, Daniel Sebastian, and Salazar, Diego Rivera
    Owner:
    Leahs Campbell
    Based Near Label Tesim:
    Chile, , Chile
    Language:
    English
    Date Uploaded:
    05/16/2020
    Date Modified:
    12/09/2021
    Date Created:
    May 15 2016 - October 7 2016
    Resource Type:
    Dataset
    Identifier:
    https://doi.org/doi:10.7278/S50DJXEW0JH3