@article{BoersBookhagenMarwanetal.2016,
  author    = {Boers, Niklas and Bookhagen, Bodo and Marwan, Norbert and Kurths, J{\"u}rgen},
  title     = {Spatiotemporal characteristics and synchronization of extreme rainfall in South America with focus on the Andes Mountain range},
  series = {Climate dynamics : observational, theoretical and computational research on the climate system},
  volume    = {46},
  journal   = {Climate dynamics : observational, theoretical and computational research on the climate system},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {New York},
  issn      = {0930-7575},
  doi       = {10.1007/s00382-015-2601-6},
  pages     = {601 -- 617},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {The South American Andes are frequently exposed to intense rainfall events with varying moisture sources and precipitation-forming processes. In this study, we assess the spatiotemporal characteristics and geographical origins of rainfall over the South American continent. Using high-spatiotemporal resolution satellite data (TRMM 3B42 V7), we define four different types of rainfall events based on their (1) high magnitude, (2) long temporal extent, (3) large spatial extent, and (4) high magnitude, long temporal and large spatial extent combined. In a first step, we analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of these events over the entire South American continent and integrate their impact for the main Andean hydrologic catchments. Our results indicate that events of type 1 make the overall highest contributions to total seasonal rainfall (up to 50\%). However, each consecutive episode of the infrequent events of type 4 still accounts for up to 20\% of total seasonal rainfall in the subtropical Argentinean plains. In a second step, we employ complex network theory to unravel possibly non-linear and long-ranged climatic linkages for these four event types on the high-elevation Altiplano-Puna Plateau as well as in the main river catchments along the foothills of the Andes. Our results suggest that one to two particularly large squall lines per season, originating from northern Brazil, indirectly trigger large, long-lasting thunderstorms on the Altiplano Plateau. In general, we observe that extreme rainfall in the catchments north of approximately 20 degrees S typically originates from the Amazon Basin, while extreme rainfall at the eastern Andean foothills south of 20 degrees S and the Puna Plateau originates from southeastern South America.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{CastinoBookhagenDelaTorre2020,
  author    = {Castino, Fabiana and Bookhagen, Bodo and De la Torre, Alejandro},
  title     = {Atmospheric dynamics of extreme discharge events from 1979 to 2016 in the southern Central Andes},
  series = {Climate dynamics : observational, theoretical and computational research on the climate system},
  volume    = {55},
  journal   = {Climate dynamics : observational, theoretical and computational research on the climate system},
  number    = {11-12},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Berlin ; Heidelberg [u.a.]},
  issn      = {0930-7575},
  doi       = {10.1007/s00382-020-05458-1},
  pages     = {3485 -- 3505},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {During the South-American Monsoon season, deep convective systems occur at the eastern flank of the Central Andes leading to heavy rainfall and flooding. We investigate the large- and meso-scale atmospheric dynamics associated with extreme discharge events (> 99.9th percentile) observed in two major river catchments meridionally stretching from humid to semi-arid conditions in the southern Central Andes. Based on daily gauge time series and ERA-Interim reanalysis, we made the following three key observations: (1) for the period 1940-2016 daily discharge exhibits more pronounced variability in the southern, semi-arid than in the northern, humid catchments. This is due to a smaller ratio of discharge magnitudes between intermediate (0.2 year return period) and rare events (20 year return period) in the semi-arid compared to the humid areas; (2) The climatological composites of the 40 largest discharge events showed characteristic atmospheric features of cold surges based on 5-day time-lagged sequences of geopotential height at different levels in the troposphere; (3) A subjective classification revealed that 80\% of the 40 largest discharge events are mainly associated with the north-northeastward migration of frontal systems and 2/3 of these are cold fronts, i.e. cold surges. This work highlights the importance of cold surges and their related atmospheric processes for the generation of heavy rainfall events and floods in the southern Central Andes.},
  language  = {en}
}