Precipitation Variability over the Forest-to-Nonforest Transition in Southwestern Amazonia

Abstract

Prior research has shown that deforestation in the southwestern Amazon enhances the formation of nonprecipitating shallow cumulus clouds, while deep cumulus convection was favored over forested land. The research presented here further investigates the trends of hydrometeors in the area by examining how precipitation frequency changes as a function of distance to the forest’s edge. Measurements are made from the precipitation radar on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM; TRMM 2A25) satellite, and continuous forest coverage is retrieved from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS; MODIS MCD12Q1). The event-based areal fractions of precipitation coverage (precipitation fraction) are calculated; referenced to forested, nonforested, and forest-edge land cover; and compared. As results are generally consistent with previous findings, the novel conclusions here extend that precipitation frequency in the southwestern Amazon (i) decreases over regions of nonforests far removed (10-plus km) from forest borders but (ii) increases within several kilometers of the forest edges, particularly over the nonforest side of the transition.