EGU21-961, updated on 25 Sep 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-961
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

River Breezes in the Central Amazon: Cluster Analysis of Meteorological and Chemical Data Sets Collected by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Tianning Zhao1, Jianhuai Ye1, Igor Ribeiro2,3, Yongjing Ma4, Hui-Ming Hung5, Carla Batista2,3, Matthew Stewart1, Jessica dos Santos Silva6, Ricardo Godoi6, Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano7, Rodrigo de Souza3, and Scot Martin1,8
Tianning Zhao et al.
  • 1School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA
  • 2Post-graduate Program in Climate and Environment, National Institute of Amazonian Research, Manaus, Amazonas, 69060-001, Brazil
  • 3School of Technology, Amazonas State University, Manaus, Amazonas, 69065-020, Brazil
  • 4State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
  • 5Department of Atmospheric Sciences, National Taiwan University No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
  • 6Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Paran UFPR, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
  • 7Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700, AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
  • 8Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

Local atmospheric circulation induced by wide rivers in Amazonia can strongly affect the transport of urban, industrial, fire, and forest emissions. Herein, a copter-type unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operated from a boat was used to collect vertical profiles of meteorological parameters and chemical concentrations during Sep-Oct 2019 of the dry season. Sensor packages mounted on the UAV measured wind speed and direction together with concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) and total oxidants (Ox, defined as O3 + NO2). Multivariate statistical analysis identified distinguishing patterns for meteorological variables. The occurrence of river breeze circulations was linked to meteorological conditions from in-situ measurement and satellite images. Vertical profiles of chemical concentrations both from in-situ measurements and large eddy simulations confirmed that under some conditions a river breeze can facilitate pollutant mixing perpendicular to the river orientation. The results of this study advance an urgent need to quantify the occurrence and the properties of river breeze circulations in respect to microscale chemical dispersion, air quality, and human health.

How to cite: Zhao, T., Ye, J., Ribeiro, I., Ma, Y., Hung, H.-M., Batista, C., Stewart, M., dos Santos Silva, J., Godoi, R., Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, J., de Souza, R., and Martin, S.: River Breezes in the Central Amazon: Cluster Analysis of Meteorological and Chemical Data Sets Collected by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-961, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-961, 2021.

Corresponding displays formerly uploaded have been withdrawn.