Atmospheric moisture transport across the Southern Ocean via satellite observations

Slonaker, Richard L.; Woert, Michael L. Van

doi:10.1029/1999jd900045

Cited by 26 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The large difference between ERA-40 and the results of Slonaker and van Woert (1999) is interesting, as Bromwich and Fogt (2004) suggested that the assimilation of TOVS data into ERA-40 was the main reason for the increase in the quality of ERA-40 data from 1979 onwards. The differences may have mostly originated from the wind field, which in Slonaker and van Woert (1999) was entirely based on satellite data. Seasonal averages for meridional water vapour transport across certain latitudes are presented in Table II and the seasonal geographical distributions in Figure 7.…”

Section: Transport Of Water Vapourmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Results from Bromwich et al (1995) address a period in the modern satellite era, and are close to the ERA-40 results for the same period, although slightly smaller at each latitude. Slonaker and van Woert (1999) used a combination of TOVS and SSM/I satellite data from 1988. Their estimation of the water vapour flux across 50°S is the largest one in Table II, (Table II).…”

Section: Transport Of Water Vapourmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, in the sea ice zone, analogously to the continental ice sheet, the net precipitation strongly depends on the transport of moisture from lower latitudes. Bromwich (1979Bromwich ( , 1988 and Connolley and King (1993) utilized rawinsonde sounding data in calculating the moisture transport, while Slonaker and van Woert (1999) applied satellite data, and Giovinetto et al (1992Giovinetto et al ( , 1997) used surface observations. Atmospheric model results have been applied to analyse the modelled precipitation minus evaporation (Ohmura et al, 1996;Cullather et al, 1998;Simmonds et al, 2005;van de Berg et al, 2006;Monaghan et al, 2006a,b) and to calculate the meridional moisture flux (Howarth, 1983) and its convergence (Bromwich et al, 1995;Genthon and Krinner, 1998;van Lipzig and van den Broeke, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Atmospheric moisture budget over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean based on the ERA‐40 reanalysis

Tietäväinen

Vihma

2008

Intl Journal of Climatology

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ABSTRACT:The atmospheric moisture budget over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean was analysed for the period 1979-2001 on the basis of the ERA-40 reanalysis of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Meridional transport by transient eddies makes the largest contribution to the southward water vapour transport. The mean meridional circulation contributes to the northward transport in the Antarctic coastal areas, but this effect is compensated by the southward transport by stationary eddies. The convergence of meridional water vapour transport is at its largest at 64-68°S, while the convergence of zonal transport is regionally important in areas of high cyclolysis. Inter-annual variations in water vapour transport are related to the southern annular mode (SAM). The eastward transport has a significant (95% confidence level) positive correlation with the SAM index, while the northward transport has a significant negative correlation with SAM near 60°S. Hydrological balance is well-achieved in the ERA-40 reanalysis: the difference between the water vapour flux convergence (based on analysis) and the net precipitation (precipitation minus evaporation, based on 24-h forecasts) is only 13 mm yr −1 (3%) over the Southern Ocean and −8 mm yr −1 (5%) over the continental ice sheet. Over the open ocean, the analysis methodology favours the accuracy of the flux convergence. For the whole study region, the annual mean flux convergence exceeded net precipitation by 11 mm yr −1 (3%). The ERA-40 result for the mean precipitation over the Antarctic continental ice sheet in 1979-2001 is 177 ± 8 mm yr −1 , while previous estimates range from 173 to 215 mm yr −1 . For the period 1979-2001, the ERA-40 data do not show any statistically significant trend in precipitation over the Antarctic grounded ice sheet and ice shelves. From the ERA-40 data, the annual average net evaporation (evaporation minus condensation) is positive over the whole continent.

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Section: Transport Of Water Vapourmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Transport Of Water Vapourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Atmospheric moisture budget over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean based on the ERA‐40 reanalysis

Tietäväinen

Vihma

2008

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…The middle part of this transect is topographically inclined westwards Xiao and others, 2005), making the prevailing wind direction east; between the coast and Dome A the wind changes direction from east-northeast to northeast, to south-southeast to northeast, and then east to south. Simulations of the moisture transport mechanism over the LGB by Connolley and King (1996) and Slonaker and Van Woert (1999) show that the eastern side of the LGB receives more vapour than the western side (probably because air masses flow through the eastern side easily due to the relatively flat topography over the coast). Using 1994-96 AWS data, Allison (1998) reported that the accumulation rate on the eastern side of the LGB (65 kg m -2 a -1 at LGB59) is up to 50% lower than that at equivalent elevations ($2600 m) on the western (windward) side (129 kg m -2 a -1 at LGB10), since the area is in the 'rain shadow' of the prevailing upper-level winds.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial variability of surface mass balance along a traverse route from Zhongshan station to Dome A, Antarctica

Ding

Xiao

et al. 2011

J. Glaciol.

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“…These results were generally within 5 m s Ϫ1 of rawinsonde measurements (Carle and Scoggins 1981). Slonaker and Van Woert (1999) also calculated upperlevel, meridional winds from a combination of satellitederived surface winds and temperature profiles over the Southern Ocean. They then applied these wind fields to the calculation of poleward moisture fluxes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arctic Tropospheric Winds Derived from TOVS Satellite Retrievals

2005

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Accurate three-dimensional wind fields are essential for diagnosing a variety of important climate processes in the Arctic, such as the advection and deposition of heat and moisture, changes in circulation features, and transport of trace constituents. In light of recent studies revealing significant biases in upperlevel winds over the Arctic Ocean from reanalyses, new daily wind fields are generated from 22.5 yr of satellite-retrieved thermal-wind profiles, corrected with a recently developed mass-conservation scheme. Compared to wind measurements from rawinsondes during the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) experiment, biases in satellite-retrieved winds are near zero in the meridional direction, versus biases of over 50% for reanalyses. Errors in the zonal component are smaller than those observed in reanalysis winds in the upper troposphere, while in the lower troposphere the effects of Greenland introduce uncertainty in the mass-conservation calculation. Further reduction in error may be achieved by incorporating winds retrieved from feature-tracking techniques using satellite imagers. Overall, satelliteretrieved winds are superior to reanalysis products over the data-sparse Arctic Ocean and provide increased accuracy for analyses requiring wind information.Trends and anomalies for the 22.5-yr record are calculated for both meridional and zonal winds at eight levels between the surface and 300 hPa. Annual mean trends are similar at varying levels, reflecting the relatively barotropic nature of the Arctic troposphere. Zonal winds are more westerly over Eurasia and the western Arctic Ocean, while westerlies have weakened over northern Canada. Combined with the corresponding pattern in meridional winds, these results suggest that the polar vortex has, on average, shifted toward northern Canada. Seasonal trends show that some changes persist throughout the year while others vary in magnitude and sign. Most striking are spring patterns, which differ markedly from the other seasons. Changes in meridional winds are consistent with observed trends in melt-onset date and sea ice concentration in the marginal seas. Anomalies in zonal wind profiles exhibit decadal-scale cyclicity in the eastern Arctic Ocean, while overall shifts in anomaly signs are evident and vary by region. The winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index correlates moderately with meridional wind anomalies in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic Ocean: positively (0.48) in the Barents Sea and negatively (Ϫ0.59) in the Lincoln Sea. These observed trends and anomalies are expected to translate to changes in advected heat and moisture into the Arctic basin, which are likely linked to trends in sea ice extent, melt onset, cloud properties, and surface temperature.

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Atmospheric moisture transport across the Southern Ocean via satellite observations

Cited by 26 publications

References 29 publications

Atmospheric moisture budget over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean based on the ERA‐40 reanalysis

Atmospheric moisture budget over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean based on the ERA‐40 reanalysis

Spatial variability of surface mass balance along a traverse route from Zhongshan station to Dome A, Antarctica

Arctic Tropospheric Winds Derived from TOVS Satellite Retrievals

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