In this work the seasonal variation of static energy of the atmosphere over Brazil's Northeast region (NEB) was studied. Climatological data of "Reanálises" of the National Center for Environmental Prediction - National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP-NCAR) referring to average of 12 years (1982 to 1993) in 17 pressure levels were used. The average vertical profiles of the dry, moist and saturated static energies, as well as the field of the flow and of the divergence of the flow of the respective energies were analyzed, for the months of March, June, September and December. The results reveal that the values of total energy indicate almost insignificant difference month by month; however, the differences among moist and saturated energies are significant and lead to useful interpretations. The convergence and the mass divergence, which are understood as dynamic effects, are responsible for the occurrence of precipitation, and what determines the convection possibility over the region is the inhibition convective energy quantity. The atmosphere over NEB exports water vapor during dry months and imports in the rainy months.
CAPE; instability; rainfall
