David Noone

Importance of rain evaporation and continental convection in the tropical water cycle.

Atmospheric moisture cycling is an important aspect of the Earth’s climate system, yet the processes determining atmospheric humidity are poorly understood. For example, direct evaporation of rain contributes significantly to the heat and moisture budgets of clouds, but few observations of these processes are available. Similarly, the relative contributions to atmospheric moisture over land from local evaporation and humidity from oceanic sources are uncertain. Lighter isotopes of water vapour preferentially evaporate whereas heavier isotopes preferentially condense and the isotopic composition of ocean water is known. Here we use this information combined with global measurements of the isotopic composition of tropospheric water vapour from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) aboard the Aura spacecraft, to investigate aspects of the atmospheric hydrological cycle that are not well constrained by observations of precipitation or atmospheric vapour content. Our measurements of the isotopic composition of water vapour near tropical clouds suggest that rainfall evaporation contributes significantly to lower troposphere humidity, with typically 20% and up to 50% of rainfall evaporating near convective clouds. Over the tropical continents the isotopic signature of tropospheric water vapour differs significantly from that of precipitation, suggesting that convection of vapour from both oceanic sources and evapotranspiration are the dominant moisture sources. Our measurements allow an assessment of the intensity of the present hydrological cycle and will help identify any future changes as they occur.

A Review of Antarctic Surface Snow Isotopic Composition: Observations, Atmospheric Circulation, and Isotopic Modeling*

A database of surface Antarctic snow isotopic composition is constructed using available measurements, with an estimate of data quality and local variability. Although more than 1000 locations are documented, the spatial coverage remains uneven with a majority of sites located in specific areas of East Antarctica. The database is used to analyze the spatial variations in snow isotopic composition with respect to geographical characteristics (elevation, distance to the coast) and climatic features (temperature, accumulation) and with a focus on deuterium excess. The capacity of theoretical isotopic, regional, and general circulation atmospheric models (including “isotopic” models) to reproduce the observed features and assess the role of moisture advection in spatial deuterium excess fluctuations is analyzed.

Historical isotope simulation using Reanalysis atmospheric data

[1] In this paper we present a multidecadal and global three-dimensional stable water isotope data set. This is accomplished by incorporating processes of the stable water isotopes into an atmospheric general circulation model and by applying a spectral nudging technique toward Reanalysis dynamical fields. Unlike the global model simulations forced only by sea surface temperature (SST), the dynamical fields used in the simulation are never far from observation because the spectral nudging technique constrains large-scale atmospheric circulation to that of observation, and therefore the simulated isotopic fields are reasonably accurate over the entire globe for daily to interannual time scales. As a case in point, it is revealed that the current approach reproduces the Arctic Oscillation much more correctly than the simulations forced only by SST, and consequently, the monthly isotopic variability better matches observations over midlatitudes to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, especially Europe. This method is of great use in providing information in regions where in situ isotope observations are not available. Such information is required for a variety of biogeochemical, hydrological, and paleoclimate studies and as boundary and initial conditions for regional isotopic simulations.

Associations between δ18O of Water and Climate Parameters in a Simulation of Atmospheric Circulation for 1979–95

The Melbourne University spectral atmospheric general circulation model is adapted to include prediction of stable water isotopes. The new scheme performs well when the modeled d 18O of precipitation is compared to both monthly observations from a global network and high-frequency measurements from two neighboring southern Australian sites. The associations between the modeled isotopic signal, temperature, and precipitation are examined on a variety of timescales by exploring the spatial distribution of temporal partial correlations. In contrast to the view commonly taken in paleoclimate studies, typically less than 20% of d 18O variance can be explained by temperature changes. The association with temperature is strongest when daily data are considered while the precipitation is more important on longer (interannual) timescales. This shows that as information about individual events is lost through the averaging process, simple distillation models, which have a strong theoretical temperature dependence, become less applicable. It is suggested that reconstruction of precipitation is more reliable on timescales longer than those considered, and the temperature dependence of precipitation facilitates an association between temperature and d 18O in proxy records. The small magnitudes of the correlation coefficients suggest that direct interpretation of proxy records such as temperature, or precipitation, should proceed under utmost scrutiny because reconstruction is far more complex than the simple problem of local regression. Specifically, should strong associations with temperature or precipitation exist, it is only partially due to the phenomenological covariance at the deposition site. As such, relationships used for paleoclimate reconstruction that incorporate information about the origin and condensation history of the moisture should be encouraged in place of overly simplistic relationships that involve just local conditions.

Demonstration of high‐precision continuous measurements of water vapor isotopologues in laboratory and remote field deployments using wavelength‐scanned cavity ring‐down spectroscopy (WS‐CRDS) technology

This study demonstrates the application of Wavelength-Scanned Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (WS-CRDS) technology which is used to measure the stable isotopic composition of water. This isotopic water analyzer incorporates an evaporator system that allows liquid water as well as water vapor to be measured with high precision. The analyzer can measure H2(18)O, H2(16)O and HD(16)O content of the water sample simultaneously. The results of a laboratory test and two field trials with this analyzer are described. The results of these trials show that the isotopic water analyzer gives precise, accurate measurements with little or no instrument drift for the two most common isotopologues of water. In the laboratory the analyzer has a precision of 0.5 per mil for deltaD and 0.1 per mil for delta(18)O which is similar to the precision obtained by laboratory-based isotope ratio mass spectrometers. In the field, when measuring vapor samples, the analyzer has a precision of 1.0 per mil for deltaD and 0.2 per mil for delta(18)O. These results demonstrate that the isotopic water analyzer is a powerful tool that is appropriate for use in a wide range of applications and environments.

Process-evaluation of tropospheric humidity simulated by general circulation models using water vapor isotopologues: 1. Comparison between models and observations

The goal of this study is to determine how H2O and HDO measurements in water vapor can be used to detect and diagnose biases in the representation of processes controlling tropospheric humidity in atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs). We analyze a large number of isotopic data sets (four satellite, sixteen ground-based remote-sensing, five surface in situ and three aircraft data sets) that are sensitive to different altitudes throughout the free troposphere. Despite significant differences between data sets, we identify some observed HDO/H2O characteristics that are robust across data sets and that can be used to evaluate models. We evaluate the isotopic GCM LMDZ, accounting for the effects of spatiotemporal sampling and instrument sensitivity. We find that LMDZ reproduces the spatial patterns in the lower and mid troposphere remarkably well. However, it underestimates the amplitude of seasonal variations in isotopic composition at all levels in the subtropics and in midlatitudes, and this bias is consistent across all data sets. LMDZ also underestimates the observed meridional isotopic gradient and the contrast between dry and convective tropical regions compared to satellite data sets. Comparison with six other isotope-enabled GCMs from the SWING2 project shows that biases exhibited by LMDZ are common to all models. The SWING2 GCMs show a very large spread in isotopic behavior that is not obviously related to that of humidity, suggesting water vapor isotopic measurements could be used to expose model shortcomings. In a companion paper, the isotopic differences between models are interpreted in terms of biases in the representation of processes controlling humidity. Copyright

A new look at methane and nonmethane hydrocarbon emissions from oil and natural gas operations in the Colorado Denver‐Julesburg Basin

Emissions of methane (CH4) from oil and natural gas (O&G) operations in the most densely drilled area of the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Weld County located in northeastern Colorado are estimated for 2 days in May 2012 using aircraft-based CH4 observations and planetary boundary layer height and ground-based wind profile measurements. Total top-down CH4 emission estimates are 25.8 ± 8.4 and 26.2 ± 10.7 t CH4/h for the 29 and 31 May flights, respectively. Using inventory data, we estimate the total emissions of CH4 from non-O&G gas-related sources at 7.1 ± 1.7 and 6.3 ± 1.0 t CH4/h for these 2 days. The difference in emissions is attributed to O&G sources in the study region, and their total emission is on average 19.3 ± 6.9 t/h, close to 3 times higher than an hourly emission estimate based on Environmental Protection Agencys Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data for 2012. We derive top-down emissions estimates for propane, n-butane, i-pentane, n-pentane, and benzene from our total top-down CH4 emission estimate and the relative hydrocarbon abundances in aircraft-based discrete air samples. Emissions for these five nonmethane hydrocarbons alone total 25.4 ± 8.2 t/h. Assuming that these emissions are solely originating from O&G-related activities in the study region, our results show that the state inventory for total volatile organic compounds emitted by O&G activities is at least a factor of 2 too low for May 2012. Our top-down emission estimate of benzene emissions from O&G operations is 173 ± 64 kg/h, or 7 times larger than in the state inventory.

Arctic system on trajectory to new, seasonally ice‐free state

The Arctic system is moving toward a new state that falls outside the envelope of glacialinterglacial fl uctuations that prevailed during recent Earth history. This future Arctic is likely to have dramatically less permanent ice than exists at present. At the present rate of change, a summer ice-free Arctic Ocean within a century is a real possibility, a state not witnessed for at least a million years. The change appears to be driven largely by feedback-enhanced global climate warming, and there seem to be few, if any, processes or feedbacks within the Arctic system that are capable of altering the trajectory toward this “super interglacial” state.

Hydrologic connectivity constrains partitioning of global terrestrial water fluxes

Continental global water filter Mobile surface waters and soil waters are relatively disconnected on a global scale. Water on land is eventually lost by surface runoff into the oceans or is ultimately sent back to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration processes. Good et al. determined that 65% of continental water evaporation is from soils, which includes water taken up and transpired by plants (see the Perspective by Brooks). Although just a small fraction of global surface waters pass through soils, individual stream ecosystems may be affected by water quality changes in nearby soils. Science, this issue p. 175; see also p. 138 Most of global continental evaporation occurs from soils, not surface waters. [Also see Perspective by Brooks] Continental precipitation not routed to the oceans as runoff returns to the atmosphere as evapotranspiration. Partitioning this evapotranspiration flux into interception, transpiration, soil evaporation, and surface water evaporation is difficult using traditional hydrological methods, yet critical for understanding the water cycle and linked ecological processes. We combined two large-scale flux-partitioning approaches to quantify evapotranspiration subcomponents and the hydrologic connectivity of bound, plant-available soil waters with more mobile surface waters. Globally, transpiration is 64 ± 13% (mean ± 1 standard deviation) of evapotranspiration, and 65 ± 26% of evaporation originates from soils and not surface waters. We estimate that 38 ± 28% of surface water is derived from the plant-accessed soil water pool. This limited connectivity between soil and surface waters fundamentally structures the physical and biogeochemical interactions of water transiting through catchments.

Atmospheric signals and characteristics of accumulation in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

With the planned European Programme for Ice Coring in Antarctica in Dronning Maud Land it is important to understand the processes leading to accumulation for successful interpretation of core data. Because it is impractical to obtain precipitation observations with a large spatial coverage and on a daily timescale in Antarctica, model-generated precipitation must be considered for a comprehensive study of the region. However, without observational data it is difficult to check the veracity of the model data. Precipitation data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis project shows that 89% of days have low (under 0.2 mm) precipitation resulting in 31% of the annual total. At the other extreme, less than 1% of days have high (over 1 mm) precipitation, which results in 20% of the annual total. It is reasoned that the changes in the frequency of extreme precipitation events could alter the trace record in ice cores and lead to a bias in reconstructed paleotemperatures. Case studies reveal that high-precipitation days have amplified upper level planetary waves directing warm moist air to the region. Associated with this is the presence of a cyclone in or at the northeast extreme of the Weddell Sea. Commonly, the longwaves provide a blocked anticyclone in the South Atlantic to form a dipolar channeling of the air mass. The accumulation variability is linked to the variability in the intensity of these storms and their tracks. It is seen that this is related to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation and a semiannual cycle.