title: Spatial and temporal variability of rainfall in eastern Amazon during the rainy season.
abstract: Empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) and composites analysis were employed on pentad data in order to investigate the tropical atmospheric-ocean patterns over the Atlantic Ocean and the spatial-temporal characteristics of the rainfall in eastern Amazon during the peak of the rainy season (February to April). The EOF results evidenced that the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is the main rainfall-producing system in eastern Amazon during the rainy season. Conditions associated with the southward SST gradient in the intertropical Atlantic formed the dynamic patterns that favored the position of the ITCZ to south of the equator, thus explaining the predominance of positive precipitation anomalies in eastern Amazon, especially in the state of Maranhão and northeastern Pará during the February and April months.
authors: Vale Institute of Technology, Boaventura da Silva Street 955, 66055-090 Belém, PA, Brazil ; Post-Graduate Program in Environmental Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Augusto Corrêa Street 1, 66075-110 Belém, PA, Brazil.
authors: Douglas Batista da Silva
authors: DB
authors: Ferreira
authors: Vale Institute of Technology, Boaventura da Silva Street 955, 66055-090 Belém, PA, Brazil.
authors: Everaldo Barreiros
authors: EB
authors: de Souza
authors: Vale Institute of Technology, Boaventura da Silva Street 955, 66055-090 Belém, PA, Brazil.
authors: Bergson Cavalcanti
authors: BC
authors: de Moraes
authors: Vale Institute of Technology, Boaventura da Silva Street 955, 66055-090 Belém, PA, Brazil.
authors: Luiz Gylvan
authors: LG
authors: Meira Filho
mesh_terms: D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D001938:Brazil; D011891:Rain; D012621:Seasons; D013020:South America; D013997:Time Factors; D014329:Tropical Climate