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The South American low‐level jet (SALLJ) is a narrow northerly wind speed maximum present just above the boundary layer. It is an important component of the tropical–extratropical heat and moisture exchange in South America and can favour deep moist convection in southeastern South America. The main objective of this study is to analyse the SALLJ characteristics at 21 upper‐air stations deployed between the Tropics and the subtropics from just east of the Andes to the eastern plains during the SALLJ Experiment (SALLJEX). The greatest wind speed occurs between 300 and 2,000 m AGL between 0300 and 1200 UTC, mainly in connection with greater northerly winds during an anticlockwise rotation of the wind from sunset to sunrise, thus suggesting the important role of the inertial oscillation in the wind's diurnal cycle. The spatial variation of the LLJ throughout the SALLJEX network shows a weakening of the maximum wind speed from stations near the Andes towards the Plains suggesting the presence of the LLJ core just east of the Andes around Santa Cruz de la Sierra's latitude (17°48′S). Weak, moderate, and strong SALLJ categories defined from a local maximum northerly wind speed threshold at each station are defined to analyse the relationship between the SALLJ intensity and the thermodynamic properties of the lower layers of the atmosphere. Strong SALLJs are frequently observed at night‐time, while weak SALLJs are likely to occur at any time of the day. Strong cases have deeper and less stable nocturnal boundary layers, which could be due to the SALLJ warm advection near the time of wind speed maximum (0600 UTC). Deeper convective boundary layers and higher low‐level temperatures observed at 1800 UTC prior to strong nocturnal SALLJs can potentially lead to larger amplitudes of inertial oscillation and contribute to generating stronger SALLJs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the lessons learned from the implementation of a regional ensemble data assimilation and forecast system during the intensive observing period of the Remote sensing of Electrification, Lightning, And Mesoscale/microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaign (central Argentina, November–December 2018). This system is based on the coupling of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF). It combines multiple data sources both global and locally available like high-resolution surface networks, AMDAR data from local aircraft flights, soundings, AIRS retrievals, high-resolution GOES-16 wind estimates, and local radar data. Hourly analyses with grid spacing of 10 km are generated along with warm-start 36-h ensemble-forecasts, which are initialized from the rapid refresh analyses every three hours. A preliminary evaluation shows that a forecast error reduction is achieved due to the assimilated observations. However, cold-start forecasts initialized from the Global Forecasting System Analysis slightly outperform the ones initialized from the regional assimilation system discussed in this paper. The system uses a multi-physics approach, focused on the use of different cumulus and planetary boundary layer schemes allowing us to conduct an evaluation of different model configurations over central Argentina. We found that the best combinations for forecasting surface variables differ from the best ones for forecasting precipitation, and that differences among the schemes tend to dominate the forecast ensemble spread for variables like precipitation. Lessons learned from this experimental system are part of the legacy of the RELAMPAGO field campaign for the development of advanced operational data assimilation systems in South America. • A LETKF-WRF system was run successfully in real-time to support RELAMPAGO operations. • A reduction in forecast error was shown due to data assimilation cycles. • 60-member RRR analyses and forecasts are available for the research community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]