Stable isotopes in atmospheric water vapor and applications to the hydrologic cycle

Galewsky, Joseph; Steen‐Larsen, Hans Christian; Field, Robert D.; Worden, J.; Risi, Camille; Schneider, Mat­thias

doi:10.1002/2015rg000512

Cited by 288 publications

(333 citation statements)

References 429 publications

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“…In this example, different mixing processes are illustrated by lines in q-dD space. We expect water originating from condensate evaporation aloft to follow the Rayleigh distillation curve, where as mixing of moister air from the lower atmosphere with much drier air that has subsided from a great altitude would be relatively enriched and follow the mixing curve (see also Risi et al 2008;Galewsky et al 2016). The August retrievals more closely follow the Rayleigh distillation curve than do the December profiles (Fig.…”

Section: Comparison With Iasi and The Added Value Of Retrieving Isotomentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Because of the fractionation of the isotopologues during phase changes of water, dD observations are useful tracers of the hydrological cycle (Galewsky et al 2016) and can provide additional constraints on the origin of water (e.g., González et al 2016) and/or on the processes that give rise to its presence (e.g., Worden et al 2007;Risi et al 2008). dD can be retrieved after an inversion procedure specially adapted to reach the precision requirements of such observation (Schneider and Hase 2011;Lacour et al 2012).…”

Section: Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (Iasi)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structure and Dynamical Influence of Water Vapor in the Lower Tropical Troposphere

et al. 2017

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In situ, airborne and satellite measurements are used to characterize the structure of water vapor in the lower tropical troposphere-below the height, z Ã ; of the triple-point isotherm, T Ã : The measurements are evaluated in light of understanding of how lowertropospheric water vapor influences clouds, convection and circulation, through both radiative and thermodynamic effects. Lower-tropospheric water vapor, which concentrates in the first few kilometers above the boundary layer, controls the radiative cooling profile of the boundary layer and lower troposphere. Elevated moist layers originating from a preferred level of convective detrainment induce a profile of radiative cooling that drives circulations which reinforce such features. A theory for this preferred level of cumulus termination is advanced, whereby the difference between T Ã and the temperature at which primary ice forms gives a 'first-mover advantage' to glaciating cumulus convection, thereby concentrating the regions of the deepest convection and leading to more clouds and moisture near the triple point. A preferred level of convective detrainment near T Ã implies relative humidity reversals below zÃ which are difficult to identify using retrievals from satellite-borne microwave and infrared sounders. Isotopologues retrievals provide a hint of such features and their ability to constrain the structure of the vertical humidity profile merits further study. Nonetheless, it will likely remain challenging to resolve dynamically -017-9420-8 important aspects of the vertical structure of water vapor from space using only passive sensors.

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Section: Comparison With Iasi and The Added Value Of Retrieving Isotomentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (Iasi)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Structure and Dynamical Influence of Water Vapor in the Lower Tropical Troposphere

et al. 2017

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“…Given δ 2 H and δ 18 O are both modified by mass dependent fractionation processes and are part of the same water molecule undergoing transformation, global precipitation follows a linear relationship δ 2 H = 8δ 18 O + 10, which is called the global meteoric water line (GMWL; Craig, 1961). The intercept of the GMWL is referred to as d-excess (deuterium-excess factor) and is useful in distinguishing equilibrium and nonequilibrium processes (see hereafter) (Dansgaard, 1964;Galewsky et al, 2016). However, the slope and the intercept of precipitation samples at a given location might vary from the values of the GMWL, depending on the source of precipitation water (ocean water or local moisture recycling by terrestrial evaporation or plant transpiration).…”

Section: Background Of Isotope Hydrologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding snow hydrological processes through the lens of stable water isotopes

Beria¹,

Larsen²,

Ceperley³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Snowfall may have different stable isotopic compositions compared with rainfall, allowing its contribution to potentially be tracked through the hydrological cycle. This review summarizes the state of knowledge of how different hydrometeorological processes affect the isotopic composition of snow in its different forms (snowfall, snowpack, and snowmelt), and, through selected examples, discusses how stable water isotopes can provide a better understanding of snow hydrological processes. A detailed account is given of how the variability in isotopic composition of snow changes from precipitation to final melting. The effect of different snow ablation processes (sublimation, melting, and redistribution by wind or avalanches) on the isotope ratios of the underlying snowpack are also examined. Insights into the role of canopy in snow interception processes, and how the isotopic composition in canopy underlying snowpacks can elucidate the exchanges therein are discussed, as well as case studies demonstrating the usefulness of stable water isotopes to estimate seasonality in the groundwater recharge. Rain-on-snow floods illustrate how isotopes can be useful to estimate the role of preferential flow during heavy spring rains. All these examples point to the complexity of snow hydrologic processes and demonstrate that an isotopic approach is useful to quantify snow contributions throughout the water cycle, especially in high-elevation and highlatitude catchments, where such processes are most pronounced. This synthesis concludes by tracing a snow particle along its entire hydrologic life cycle, highlights the major practical challenges remaining in snow hydrology and discusses future research directions.

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“…Most studies use the more intuitive δ notation (Dansgaard, 1964;Galewsky et al, 2016), which expresses the heavy isotope composition of a reservoir in terms of relative deviation of R from an internationally accepted standard:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new interpretative framework for below-cloud effects on stable water isotopes in vapour and rain

Graf¹,

Wernli²,

Sodemann³

2018

Preprint

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Abstract. Raindrops interact with water vapour in ambient air while sedimenting from the cloud base to the ground. They constantly exchange water molecules with the environment and, in sub-saturated air, they evaporate partially or entirely. The latter of these below-cloud processes is important for predicting the resulting surface rainfall amount and it influences the boundary layer profiles of temperature and moisture through to evaporative latent cooling and humidity changes. However, despite its importance, it is very difficult to quantify this process from observations. Stable water isotopes provide such infor-5 mation, as they are influenced by both rain evaporation and equilibration. This study elucidates this option by introducing a novel interpretation framework for stable water isotope measurements performed simultaneously at high temporal resolution in both near-surface vapour and rain. We refer to this viewing device as the ∆δ∆d-diagram, which shows the isotopic composition (δ 2 H, d-excess) of equilibrium vapour from precipitation samples relative to the ambient vapour. It is shown that this diagram facilitates the diagnosis of below-cloud processes and their effects on the isotopic composition of vapour and rain 10 since equilibration and evaporation lead to different pathways in the two-dimensional phase space of the ∆δ∆d-diagram. For a specific cold front in Central Europe, the analysis shows that below-cloud processes lead to distinct and temporally variable imprints on the isotope signal in surface rain. The influence of evaporation on this signal is particularly strong during periods with a weak precipitation rate. After the frontal passage, the near-surface atmospheric layer is characterised by higher relative humidity and a lower melting layer, leading to weaker below-cloud evaporation and equilibration. Measurements from four 15 cold frontal events reveal a surprisingly similar slope of ∆d ∆δ = −0.30 in the phase space, indicating a potentially characteristic signature of below-cloud processes for this type of rain events.

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Stable isotopes in atmospheric water vapor and applications to the hydrologic cycle

Cited by 288 publications

References 429 publications

Structure and Dynamical Influence of Water Vapor in the Lower Tropical Troposphere

Structure and Dynamical Influence of Water Vapor in the Lower Tropical Troposphere

Understanding snow hydrological processes through the lens of stable water isotopes

A new interpretative framework for below-cloud effects on stable water isotopes in vapour and rain

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