22-EPN3-128: Northwestern Amazon regional convection and its role in the control of extreme events and the isotopic signal in Quito, Ecuador.
July 28, 2023

22-EPN3-128: Northwestern Amazon regional convection and its role in the control of extreme events and the isotopic signal in Quito, Ecuador.

Visit by Maria Sheila Fabiola Serrano Vincenti, Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (Ecuador), to TA2 Facility 17 – Isotoptech Stable/Clumped Isotopes Laboratory (Hungary).
Dates of visit: 22-26 May 2023.

Report Summary: The goal of the 2023 visit to the TA Facility was to measure rainwater δ2H and δ18O values sampled at daily and monthly resolution from October 2022 to May 2023 in three different monitoring sites at North, South and Valley sites in Quito-Ecuador. Due to the complex orography, the sites experience varying intensities of rainfall and hailstorms. These measurements are part of a project aiming to understand the dynamical processes that contribute to the observed heavy and extreme precipitation events in the Tropical Andes, specifically in Quito.

Location of the installed rainfall collectors (red) and nearby meteorological REMMAQ stations (cyan). The borders of the city of Quito are marked by the white line.
Location of the installed rainfall collectors (red) and nearby meteorological REMMAQ stations (cyan). The borders of the city of Quito are marked by the white line. Credit: S Serrano-Vincenti.

Understanding these isotopic data will help the interpretation of the variations in δ2H and δ18O during intense rainfall events and subsequent fractionation due to local and upstream convection, orographic lift and moisture recycling. In addition to the measured isotopic signals, rainfall amount, pH, conductivity, and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) data will be statistically analysed from the sites. Similarly, instrumental daily precipitation and cloud coverage information from instrumental and satellite data will be examined for convective rainfall (thunderstorms) and moisture provenance characterisation.

The Los Gatos spectrometer at the ISIL
The Los Gatos spectrometer at the ISIL Credit: S Serrano-Vincenti.

Read the full scientific report with kind permission by Sheila Serrano-Vincenti.

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Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.
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