Abstract
Abstract. The VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study Regional Experiment (VOCALS-REx) was a major field experiment conducted in spring of 2008 off southern Peru and northern Chile, aimed at better understanding the coupled climate systems of the southeast Pacific. Because of logistical constrains, the coastal area around 30° S was not sampled during VOCALS-REx. This area not only marks the poleward edge of the subtropical stratocumulus cloud regime (thus acting as a source of transient disturbances) but is also one of the most active upwelling centers and source of surface ocean kinetic energy along the Chilean coast. To fill such an observational gap, a small, brief, but highly focused field experiment was conducted in late spring 2009 in the near-shore region around 30° S. The Chilean Upwelling Experiment (CUpEx) was endorsed by VOCALS as a regional component. CUpEx included long-term monitoring, an intensive two-week field campaign and off-shore research flights. Our goal was to obtain an atmospheric/oceanic dataset with enough temporal and spatial coverage to be able to document (a) the mean diurnal cycles of the lower-troposphere and upper-ocean in a region of complex topography and coastline geometry, and (b) the ocean-atmosphere response to the rapid changes in coastal winds from strong, upwelling-favorable equatorward flow (southerly winds) to downwelling-favorable poleward flow (northerly winds). In this paper we describe the measurement platforms and sampling strategy, and provide an observational overview, highlighting some key mean-state and transient features.
Highlights
Background and goalsThe VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study (VOCALS) is an international program aimed at improving the understanding of the subtropical Southeast Pacific (SEP) coupled ocean-atmosphere-land system on diurnal to interannual timescales (Mechoso and Wood, 2010)
The Chilean Upwelling Experiment (CUpEx) was endorsed by VOCALS as a regional component focused on the atmosphere-ocean dynamics that characterize the nearshore (0–100 km) region off north-central Chile
In CUpEx we have focused our observations around point Lengua de Vaca (LdV), including the bays of Tongoy and Coquimbo (Fig. 2, Table 3), but we hope that some of the findings here can be extrapolated to other point/bay complexes in Chile and elsewhere
Summary
Background and goalsThe VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study (VOCALS) is an international program aimed at improving the understanding of the subtropical Southeast Pacific (SEP) coupled ocean-atmosphere-land system on diurnal to interannual timescales (Mechoso and Wood, 2010). To address the many VOCALS science questions a major regional experiment, VOCALS-REx, was carried out during October and November 2008 off northern Chile and southern Peru (Fig. 1), including an unprecedented number of atmospheric and oceanographic measurements taken concurrently from five aircraft, two research vessels and two land sites (Wood et al, 2011). The Chilean Upwelling Experiment (CUpEx) was endorsed by VOCALS as a regional component focused on the atmosphere-ocean dynamics that characterize the nearshore (0–100 km) region off north-central Chile. The objectives, methodology and platforms used in CUpEx are coincident with field experiments conducted in other eastern boundary upwelling systems (summarized in Table 2; see Smith, 1992), especially along the west coast of North America
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