The U.S. contribution to

Climate Variability and Predictability

South American Low Level Jet Experiment

The South American Low Level Jet Experiment (SALLJEX) is the first of a series of experiments that will attempt, during a rigorous data gathering field phase, to monitor, quantify, and analyze low-level circulations that modulate regional rainfall.

SALLJEX Scientific Objectives
 
The scientific objectives of SALLJEX are to understand the role of the South American low-level jet in moisture and energy exchange between the tropics and extratropics, and related aspects of regional hydrology, climate and climate variability.
 
Specific hypotheses to be tested within this experiment are:

• Improved observational datasets on SALLJ will contribute to more successful weather and climate forecasts; and
• SALLJ have substantial variability on daily, intraseasonal and interannual time scales.

The ultimate goal of SALLJEX is to improve the short and long term prediction through the following strategy:

• obtain an improved description of the temporal and spatial structure of the SALLJ based on expanded monitoring activities and special field experiments;
• evaluate the veracity of numerical representation (forecasts and analyses) of SALLJ against special observations; and
• determine improvements of initial state representation and model parameterizations required to improve prediction.

SALLJEX Modeling Activities

• Coordinated Experiment to assess models performance
• Evaluation of Model Perfomance with SALLJEX Data
• Data Assimilation of the SALLJEX Observations
• NWP Support Group during SALLJEX