Factors controlling precipitation onset and maintenance: Inferences from large eddy simulations of two afternoon deep convective regimes over Amazon

To investigate the environmental factors controlling the onset and maintenance of afternoon precipitation over tropical rainforests, two contrasting cases are created for large eddy simulations (LES) using GoAmazon observations: one features a single‐pulse rain dissipating quickly in earlier afternoon, while the other shows double pulses lasting until evening. For these two specific cases under consideration, LES confirms that early‐morning relative humidity dominates afternoon rain patterns. The attributed impacts are distinct: moisture determines the rain onset timing while temperature affects the peak rain intensity. Single‐pulse day observes one round of strong precipitation and cold pools, which further suppresses convection. On double‐pulse day, the first precipitation peak results from an intermediate development of congestus clouds, whose detrainment leads to a gradual moistening of the lower‐to‐middle troposphere. This behavior of convection favors a second pulse of stronger precipitation with more convective organization, whose development decouples from surface fluxes and sustains until evening.

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Author Tian, Yang ORCID icon
Zhang, Y.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2025-06-28T00:00:00
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2025-12-24T17:46:41.626209
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:43805
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Tian, Yang, Zhang, Y.. (2025). Factors controlling precipitation onset and maintenance: Inferences from large eddy simulations of two afternoon deep convective regimes over Amazon. UCAR/NCAR - Library. https://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7891b98. Accessed 21 February 2026.

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