GDASS GCIP ENERGY BUDGETS

The National Centers for Environmental Prediction's operational global data assimilation system's (GDAS) atmospheric and surface thermodynam ic energy cycles are presented for the Mississippi River basin where t he Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment Continental-Scale Internat ional project (GCIP) is under way, At the surface, during the winter, incoming solar radiation is balanced by longwave cooling. During the s ummer, latent and sensible cooling are equally important. In the atmos phere, thermodynamic energy convergence is also important, especially during the winter, In most places, precipitation is largely balanced b y thermodynamic energy divergence. Anomalously high surface temperatur es appear to be mainly related to decreased surface evaporation. Anoma lously high (low) precipitation variations may also be related to anom alously high thermodynamic energy divergence (convergence). Unfortunat ely, residual terms, which are slightly noticeable for the GCIP climat ological balances, are especially noticeable for the anomalous atmosph eric balances.