Regional Variability of Rain Clouds in the Amazon Basin as Seen by a Network of Weather Radars

A new dataset based on 5 yr of operational meteorological weather radars from the Amazon Protection System has enabled new knowledge in relation to rainfall in the Amazon basin. The rainy features are analyzed for 10 different regions in terms of the annual and diurnal cycles of radar reflectivity, as well as the vertical distribution, in addition to lightning data. Similarities between the annual and diurnal cycles are found in the northwestern and western, southwestern and southern, and northeastern and northern Amazon. Nocturnal peaks are found in stratiform fraction in the southern, southwestern, western, northwestern, northern, central western, and coastal regions. The convective fractions in the western, northwestern, northern, and central eastern regions also show nocturnal peaks. The radar reflectivity vertical distributions analysis indicates that in the northern coast close to Belem, heavy rainfall with deep convective systems is observed throughout the year, while heavy rainfall in the central Amazon close to Manaus, Tefe, and Santarem occurs in the dry season. More oceanic-like clouds are also observed there and in other locations on the northern coast like Macapa, where the frequency of lightning is quite low. Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira, located in the northwest portion of the Amazon basin, has a regime with rainfall in all seasons with a slight decrease from August to October when the systems become more convective and have more lightning.