A storm safari in subtropical South America: Proyecto RELAMPAGO

This article provides an overview of the experimental design, execution, education and public outreach, data collection, and initial scientific results from the Remote Sensing of Electrification, Lightning, and Mesoscale/Microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaign. RELAMPAGO was a major field campaign conducted in the Cordoba and Mendoza provinces in Argentina and western Rio Grande do Sul State in Brazil in 2018-19 that involved more than 200 scientists and students from the United States, Argentina, and Brazil. This campaign was motivated by the physical processes and societal impacts of deep convection that frequently initiates in this region, often along the complex terrain of the Sierras de Cordoba and Andes, and often grows rapidly upscale into dangerous storms that impact society. Observed storms during the experiment produced copious hail, intense flash flooding, extreme lightning flash rates, and other unusual lightning phenomena, but few tornadoes. The five distinct scientific foci of RELAMPAGO-convection initiation, severe weather, upscale growth, hydrometeorology, and lightning and electrification-are described, as are the deployment strategies to observe physical processes relevant to these foci. The campaign's international cooperation, forecasting efforts, and mission planning strategies enabled a successful data collection effort. In addition, the legacy of RELAMPAGO in South America, including extensive multinational education, public outreach, and social media data gathering associated with the campaign, is summarized.

To Access Resource:

Questions? Email Resource Support Contact:

  • opensky@ucar.edu
    UCAR/NCAR - Library

Resource Type publication
Temporal Range Begin N/A
Temporal Range End N/A
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links N/A
Additional Information N/A
Resource Format PDF
Standardized Resource Format PDF
Asset Size N/A
Legal Constraints

Copyright 2021 American Meteorological Society (AMS).
Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email opensky@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library
Distributor N/A
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email opensky@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library

Author Nesbitt, Stephen W.
Salio, Paola V.
Ávila, Eldo
Bitzer, Phillip
Carey, Lawrence
Chandrasekar, V.
Deierling, Wiebke
Dominguez, Francina
Dillon, Maria Eugenia
Garcia, C. Marcelo
Gochis, David
Goodman, Steven
Hence, Deanna A.
Kosiba, Karen A.
Kumjian, Matthew R.
Lang, Timothy
Luna, Lorena Medina
Marquis, James
Marshall, Robert
McMurdie, Lynn A.
de Lima Nascimento, Ernani
Rasmussen, Kristen L.
Roberts, Rita
Rowe, Angela K.
Ruiz, Juan José
São Sabbas, Eliah F.M.T.
Saulo, A. Celeste
Schumacher, Russ S.
Skabar, Yanina Garcia
Toledo Machado, Luiz Augusto
Trapp, Robert J.
Varble, Adam C.
Wilson, James
Wurman, Joshua
Zipser, Edward J.
Arias, Ivan
Bechis, Hernán
Grover, Maxwell A.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2021-08-01T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:33:18.688440
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:25161
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Nesbitt, Stephen W., Salio, Paola V., Ávila, Eldo, Bitzer, Phillip, Carey, Lawrence, Chandrasekar, V., Deierling, Wiebke, Dominguez, Francina, Dillon, Maria Eugenia, Garcia, C. Marcelo, Gochis, David, Goodman, Steven, Hence, Deanna A., Kosiba, Karen A., Kumjian, Matthew R., Lang, Timothy, Luna, Lorena Medina, Marquis, James, Marshall, Robert, McMurdie, Lynn A., de Lima Nascimento, Ernani, Rasmussen, Kristen L., Roberts, Rita, Rowe, Angela K., Ruiz, Juan José, São Sabbas, Eliah F.M.T., Saulo, A. Celeste, Schumacher, Russ S., Skabar, Yanina Garcia, Toledo Machado, Luiz Augusto, Trapp, Robert J., Varble, Adam C., Wilson, James, Wurman, Joshua, Zipser, Edward J., Arias, Ivan, Bechis, Hernán, Grover, Maxwell A.. (2021). A storm safari in subtropical South America: Proyecto RELAMPAGO. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7cn77fg. Accessed 22 June 2025.

Harvest Source