Precipitation stable isotopic signatures of tropical cyclones in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines show significant negative isotopic excursions

Abstract

Abstract. Tropical cyclones have devastating impacts on the environment, economies, and societies, and may intensify in the coming decades due to climate change. Stable water isotopes serve as tracers of the hydrological cycle, as the fractionation process may leave distinct precipitation isotopic signatures. Here we present a record of daily precipitation isotope measurements from March 2014 to October 2015 for Metropolitan Manila, which is a first of a kind dataset for the Philippines and Southeast Asia, and analyze if there is an isotopic response to tropical cyclones. The most negative shift in δ18O value (−13.84 ‰) leading to a clear isotopic signal was caused by Typhoon Rammasun, which directly hit Metropolitan Manila. The average δ18O value of precipitation associated with tropical cyclones is −10.24 ‰, whereas the mean isotopic value for rainfall associated with non-cyclone events is −5.29 ‰. Further, the closer the storm track to the sampling site, the more negative the isotopic values, indicating that in-situ isotope measurements can provide a direct linkage between isotopes and typhoon activities in the Philippines.

Typhoon rainfall impact on drip water δ18O in Xianyun cave, Southeast China

“…The mean δ 18 O values in typhoon rainfall are lower than those in other tropical and summer rainfall systems (Gedzelman et al, 2003;Jackisch et al, 2020;Lawrence & Gedzelman, 1996;Xu et al, 2019).…”

“…The mean δ 18 O values in typhoon rainfall are lower than those in other tropical and summer rainfall systems (Gedzelman et al, 2003; Jackisch et al, 2020; Lawrence & Gedzelman, 1996; Xu et al, 2019). When typhoon rainfall with extremely negative δ 18 O is mixed with infiltration water stored in the epikarst zone above a cave, or the typhoon rainfall flows through the soil and karst fissures, the drip rates in the cave may increase, and the negative δ 18 O drip water values potentially trace past typhoons (Vieten et al, 2018).…”

“…Current research on typhoon signal monitoring is focused on the North Atlantic (Good, Mallia, Lin, & Bowen, 2014; Vieten, Warken, Winter, Scholz, et al, 2018; Vieten, Warken, Winter, Schröder‐Ritzrau, et al, 2018) and a few other regions (Chakraborty et al, 2016; Fudeyasu et al, 2008; Jackisch et al, 2020; Munksgaard et al, 2015; Xu et al, 2019). South China coast is particularly vulnerable to land‐falling typhoons from the western North Pacific (Zhang, Wu, & Liu, 2009; Zhang, Zhang, Lu, & Chen, 2011).…”

Typhoon Control of Precipitation Dual Isotopes in Southern China and Its Palaeoenvironmental Implications

“…Moreover, the convective processes within the tropical cyclones, in particular rain-vapor isotopic exchanges and the accumulated effect of depleting convective processes along the transportation of moisture toward the center of the storm, can result in the depleted δD and δ 18 O during the typhoon periods (Fudeyasu et al, 2008;Jackisch et al, 2020;Lawrence et al, 2004;Munksgaard et al, 2015;Price et al, 2008). Typhoons are characterized by strong cyclonic circulation and intense large-scale convection, particularly in the spiral rain bands and the eye wall, and accompanied by heaviest precipitation and greatest wind speeds.…”

Water Stable Isotope Composition of Precipitations at Two Stations in Antananarivo-Madagascar: A Comparative Study

“…Tropical cyclone rains have lower stable isotope ratios (Lawrence, & Gedzelman, 1996) probably due to the high, thick clouds, the large precipitation region and the precipitation longevity (Lawrence, Gedzelman, Zhang, & Arnold, 1998). Such stable isotope ratios decrease has been observed during typhoon in Japan (Fudeyasu et al, 2008), tropical cyclone in the Philippines (Jackisch et al, 2020) and in Oman (Müller, Friesen, Weise, Al Abri, Bait Said, & Michelsen, 2020). The period [1961][1962][1963][1964][1965][1966][1967][1968][1969][1970][1971][1972][1973][1974][1975] (Ivato station) has higher frequency of highly depleted precipitation than the period [2009][2010][2011][2012][2013][2014][2015][2016][2017][2018] (Ankatso station), which would have originated from tropical cyclone.…”