Satellites are an alternative source of rainfall data used as input to hydrological models in poorly gauged or ungauged regions. They are also useful in regions with highly heterogeneous precipitation, such as the tropical Andes. This paper evaluates three satellite precipitation datasets (TMPA, CMORPH, PERSIANN), as well as a dataset based only on rain gauge data (HYBAM), and their impacts on the water balance of the Western Amazon basin, a region where hydrological modeling and hydrological forecasting are poorly developed. These datasets were used as inputs in the MGB-IPH hydrological model to simulate streamflows for the 2003-2009 period. The impacts of precipitation on model parameterization and outputs were evaluated in two calibration experiments. In Experiment 1, parameter sets were separately defined for each catchment; in Experiment 2, a single parameter set was defined for the...

Los altos porcentajes de concentración de precipitación diaria en pocos días, pueden incrementar el potencial de erosión, inestabilidad de laderas y riesgo de inundaciones, siendo estos problemas comunes en el Perú, por lo que es importante el conocimiento acerca de la precipitación a nivel diario. En este articulo, se ha llevado a cabo una investigación acerca de los patrones espaciales y temporales de la concentración de precipitación diaria en los andes centrales del Perú, mediante el índice de concentración (IC), que evalúa la variación de la valoración de precipitación diaria, la contribución de grandes lluvias a la cantidad total presentada. El índice es aplicado a una curva exponencial como Y = aX exp(bX ) , el cual ajusta el porcentaje acumulado de precipitación en Y contribuida por el porcentaje acumulado de días X llevado a cabo en un lugar, en el periodo 19...

In the last two decades, rainfall estimates provided by the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) have proven applicable in hydrological studies. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, which provides the new generation of rainfall estimates, is now considered a global successor to TRMM. The usefulness of GPM data in hydrological applications, however, has not yet been evaluated over the Andean and Amazonian regions. This study uses GPM data provided by the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals (IMERG) (product/final run) as input to a distributed hydrological model for the Amazon Basin of Peru and Ecuador for a 16-month period (from March 2014 to June 2015) when all datasets are available. TRMM products (TMPA V7 and TMPA RT datasets) and a gridded precipitation dataset processed from observed rainfall are used for comparison. The results indicate that precipitation da...

Changes of the onset dates, end dates, and duration of the rainy season over central Peruvian Andes (Mantaro river basin, MRB) could severely affect water resources management and the main economic activities (e.g., rainfed agriculture, raising cattle, among others). Nonetheless, these changes have not been documented for the Tropical Andes. To asses that, we used daily datasets of observed rainfall during the 1965-2013 period. For this period, the average onset (end) date of the rainy season over the MRB occurs in the pentad 17 (19-23 September) [pentad 57 (7-11 April)]. The duration of the rainy season mainly is modulated by the onset dates due to it has higher variability than end dates. There is a reduction of 3 days/decade in the duration of wet season over the MRB for the last four decades due to the delay of the onset days. Furthermore, El Nino favors late-onset and early end of t...

Precipitation is one of the most difficult variables to estimate using large-scale predictors. Over South America (SA), this task is even more challenging, given the complex topography of the Andes. Empirical–statistical downscaling (ESD) models can be used for this purpose, but such models, applicable for all of SA, have not yet been developed. To address this issue, we construct an ESD model using multiple-linear-regression techniques for the period 1982–2016 that is based on large-scale circulation indices representing tropical Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and South American climate variability, to estimate austral summer [December–February (DJF)] precipitation over SA. Statistical analyses show that the ESD model can reproduce observed precipitation anomalies over the tropical Andes (Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia), the eastern equatorial Amazon basin, and the central p...

The climatological and large‐scale characteristics of the extreme cold events (ECEs) in the central Peruvian Andes (Mantaro basin (MB)) during austral summer (January–March) are examined using reanalysis, gridded and in situ surface minimum temperature (Tmin) data for the 1979–2010 period. To describe the influence of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) on ECEs in the MB, two ECE groups are defined on the basis of the sign of the outgoing long‐wave radiation (OLR) anomalies in the MJO band (30–100 days, 0–9 eastward) at 12.5°S, 75°W. Type‐1 ECEs occur during the suppressed convection phase of the MJO (OLR anomalies ≥+2 W/m2) while Type‐2 ECEs occur during the enhanced convection phase of the MJO (OLR anomalies ≤−2 W/m2). ECEs in the MB are associated with the advection of cold and dry air along the east of the Andes through equatorward propagation of extratrop...