The Role of Water Vapour in Earth’s Energy Flows

Allan, Richard P.

doi:10.1007/s10712-011-9157-8

Cited by 63 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 55 publications

(36 reference statements)

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“…Water vapor (WV) has received much attention in recent years since it is the principal greenhouse gas component, and thus, its variation in concentration strongly influences the change of climate and weather [ Allan , ; Chung et al ., ]. However, precisely quantifying the variation and distribution of WV at a high resolution is often a challenge if only traditional meteorological sensors are used because of their low temporal and spatial resolutions [ Liu et al ., ; Bock et al ., ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water vapor‐weighted mean temperature and its impact on the determination of precipitable water vapor and its linear trend

et al. 2016

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Water vapor‐weighted mean temperature, Tm, is a vital parameter for retrieving precipitable water vapor (PWV) from the zenith wet delay (ZWD) of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signal propagation. In this study, the Tm at 368 GNSS stations for 2000–2012 were calculated using three methods: (1) temperature and humidity profiles from ERA‐Interim, (2) the Bevis Tm–Ts relationship, and (3) the Global Pressure and Temperature 2 wet model. Tm derived from the first method was used as a reference to assess the errors of the other two methods. Comparisons show that the relative errors of the Tm derived from these two methods are in the range of 1–3% across more than 95% of all the stations. The PWVs were calculated using the aforementioned three types of Tm and the GNSS‐derived ZWD at 107 stations. Again, the PWVs calculated using Tm from the first method were used as the reference of the other two PWVs. The root‐mean‐square errors of these two PWVs are both in the range of 0.1–0.7 mm. The second method is recommended in real‐time applications, since its performance is slightly better than the third method. In addition, the linear trends of the PWV time series from the first method were also used as the reference to evaluate the trends from the other two methods. Results show that 13% and 23% of the PWV trends from the respective second and third methods have a relative error of larger than 10%. For climate change studies, the first method, if available, is always recommended.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water vapor‐weighted mean temperature and its impact on the determination of precipitable water vapor and its linear trend

et al. 2016

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“…The UTH datasets submitted to G-VAP include satellite observations from the High-Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS), the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit B (AMSU-B) and Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS), and the Meteosat Visible and InfraRed Imager (MVIRI) and Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI). Though the amount of UTH accounts for only a very small portion of TCWV, it is a significant absorption source of the outgoing longwave radiation, and thus UTH has a profound impact in the climate feedback processes [1][2][3]. The G-VAP assessment covers evaluations of both the overall characteristics of participating data records for each of these ECVs and the consistency among ECVs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Pattern Differences between Satellite-Observed Upper Tropospheric Humidity and Total Column Water Vapor during Major El Niño Events

2018

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As part of the activities for the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) water vapor assessment project, the consistency of satellite-observed upper tropospheric humidity (UTH) and total column water vapor (TCWV) is examined. The examination is focused on their respective patterns during major El Niño events. The analysis shows that the two datasets, consisting of one measurement of vertically averaged relative humidity in the upper troposphere and one of absolute water vapor integrated over the atmospheric vertical column with dominant contribution from the lower troposphere, are consistent over the equatorial central-eastern Pacific, both showing increases of water vapor during major El Niño events as expected. However, the magnitude of drying in the TCWV field over the western Pacific is much weaker than that of moistening over the central-eastern Pacific, while the UTH field exhibits equivalent magnitude of drying and moistening. Furthermore, the drying in the UTH field covers larger areas in the tropics. The difference in their patterns results in an opposite phase in the time series during a major El Niño event when a tropical average is taken. Both UTH and TCWV are closely correlated with major climate indices. However, they have significantly different lag correlations with the Niño 3.4 index in both the sign (positive or negative) and lag time over tropical oceans.

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“…In particular, over the intertropical regions, the free tropospheric humidity distribution is considered to contribute strongly to the water vapour feedback (e.g., Allan 2012). The climatological patterns of humidity distribution are recalled in Fig.…”

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confidence: 99%

Tropical and Extra-Tropical Influences on the Distribution of Free Tropospheric Humidity Over the Intertropical Belt

et al. 2012

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International audienceFree tropospheric humidity (FTH) is a key parameter of the radiation budget of the Earth. In particular, its distribution over the intertropical belt has been identified as an important contributor to the water vapour feedback. Idealized radiative transfer computations are performed to underscore the need to consider the whole probability distribution function (PDF) rather than the arithmetical mean of the FTH. The analysis confirmed the overwhelming role of the dry end of the PDF in the radiative perturbation of the top of atmosphere longwave budget. The physical and dynamical processes responsible for the maintenance of this dry part of the FTH distribution are reviewed, and the lateral mixing between the tropics and the extra-tropics is revealed as a major element of the dry air dynamics. The evolution of this lateral mixing in the framework of the global warming is discussed, and perspectives of work are listed as a mean of a conclusion

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The Role of Water Vapour in Earth’s Energy Flows

Cited by 63 publications

References 55 publications

Water vapor‐weighted mean temperature and its impact on the determination of precipitable water vapor and its linear trend

Water vapor‐weighted mean temperature and its impact on the determination of precipitable water vapor and its linear trend

Assessing the Pattern Differences between Satellite-Observed Upper Tropospheric Humidity and Total Column Water Vapor during Major El Niño Events

Tropical and Extra-Tropical Influences on the Distribution of Free Tropospheric Humidity Over the Intertropical Belt

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