Upper Tropospheric Water Vapor Transport from Indian to Sahelian Regions

We present a study of upper tropospheric westward transport of air masses coming from the Indian monsoon zone over the period 1998–2008. The objective is to characterize upper tropospheric transport of water vapor from the Indian to Sahelian regions, and to improve the understanding of the dynamical mechanisms that govern water vapor variations in West Africa and the interconnections between India and the Sahel, focusing on the direct role of the Indian monsoon region on Sahel tropospheric water vapor and precipitation. The calculations of forward trajectories with LACYTRAJ (LACY TRAJectory code) and humidity fluxes show that a substantial part (40 to 70% at 300 hPa) of trajectories coming from the upper troposphere of the monsoon region crossed the Sahelian region in a few days (3–14 days), and water vapor fluxes connecting these two regions are established when the Indian monsoon begins at latitudes higher than 15° N in its south–north migration. The intensity and orientation of water vapor fluxes are related to the tropical easterly jet, but they are from the east above the high convection zones. Between 1998 and 2008, these fluxes between the 500–300 hPa pressure levels are associated with precipitation in Sahel only if they are from the east and with an intensity exceeding 8 kg·(m·s)−1.

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Water vapor transport from the Indian monsoon region: the phenomenon of Atmospheric River

10.1117/12.2223666 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Sree Raghav R. ◽

Mrudula G.

Keyword(s):

Water Vapor ◽

Indian Monsoon ◽

Vapor Transport ◽

Water Vapor Transport ◽

Monsoon Region ◽

Atmospheric River ◽

Indian Monsoon Region

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Extreme Surface Winds During Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers: The Modulating Role of Near-Surface Stability

Journal of Hydrometeorology ◽

10.1175/jhm-d-20-0165.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Terence J. Pagano ◽

Duane E. Waliser ◽

Bin Guan ◽

Hengchun Ye ◽

F. Martin Ralph ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Vapor ◽

Static Stability ◽

Vapor Transport ◽

Water Vapor Transport ◽

Surface Winds ◽

Near Surface ◽

Extreme Surface ◽

Atmospheric Rivers ◽

Explained Variance

AbstractAtmospheric rivers (ARs) are long and narrow regions of strong horizontal water vapor transport. Upon landfall, ARs are typically associated with heavy precipitation and strong surface winds. A quantitative understanding of the atmospheric conditions that favor extreme surface winds during ARs has implications for anticipating and managing various impacts associated with these potentially hazardous events. Here, a global AR database (1999–2014) with relevant information from MERRA-2 reanalysis, QuikSCAT and AIRS satellite observations are used to better understand and quantify the role of near-surface static stability in modulating surface winds during landfalling ARs. The temperature difference between the surface and 1 km MSL (ΔT; used here as a proxy for near-surface static stability), and integrated water vapor transport (IVT) are analyzed to quantify their relationships to surface winds using bivariate linear regression. In four regions where AR landfalls are common, the MERRA-2-based results indicate that IVT accounts for 22-38% of the variance in surface wind speed. Combining ΔT with IVT increases the explained variance to 36-52%. Substitution of QuikSCAT surface winds and AIRS ΔT in place of the MERRA-2 data largely preserves this relationship (e.g., 44% compared to 52% explained variance for USA West Coast). Use of an alternate static stability measure–the bulk Richardson number–yields a similar explained variance (47%). Lastly, AR cases within the top and bottom 25% of near-surface static stability indicate that extreme surface winds (gale or higher) are more likely to occur in unstable conditions (5.3%/14.7% during weak/strong IVT) than in stable conditions (0.58%/6.15%).

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Some features of water vapor mixing ratio in tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere: Role of convection

Atmospheric Research ◽

10.1016/j.atmosres.2012.02.003 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 108 ◽

pp. 86-103 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

V. Panwar ◽

A.R. Jain ◽

A. Goel ◽

T.K. Mandal ◽

V.R. Rao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Vapor ◽

Lower Stratosphere ◽

Mixing Ratio ◽

Upper Troposphere ◽

Water Vapor Mixing Ratio ◽

Tropical Upper Troposphere

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Water vapor increase in the lower stratosphere of the Northern Hemisphere due to the Asian monsoon anticyclone observed during the TACTS/ESMVal campaigns

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-18-2973-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 2973-2983 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Christian Rolf ◽

Bärbel Vogel ◽

Peter Hoor ◽

Armin Afchine ◽

Gebhard Günther ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Vapor ◽

Northern Hemisphere ◽

Asian Monsoon ◽

Eastern China ◽

Potential Temperature ◽

Monsoon Region ◽

Asian Monsoon Region ◽

Air Mass ◽

Air Masses ◽

The Impact

Abstract. The impact of air masses originating in Asia and influenced by the Asian monsoon anticyclone on the Northern Hemisphere stratosphere is investigated based on in situ measurements. A statistically significant increase in water vapor (H2O) of about 0.5 ppmv (11 %) and methane (CH4) of up to 20 ppbv (1.2 %) in the extratropical stratosphere above a potential temperature of 380 K was detected between August and September 2012 during the HALO aircraft missions Transport and Composition in the UT/LMS (TACTS) and Earth System Model Validation (ESMVal). We investigate the origin of the increased water vapor and methane using the three-dimensional Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS). We assign the source of the moist air masses in the Asian region (northern and southern India, eastern China, southeast Asia, and the tropical Pacific) based on tracers of air mass origin used in CLaMS. The water vapor increase is correlated with an increase of the simulated Asian monsoon air mass contribution from about 10 % in August to about 20 % in September, which corresponds to a doubling of the influence from the Asian monsoon region. Additionally, back trajectories starting at the aircraft flight paths are used to differentiate transport from the Asian monsoon anticyclone and other source regions by calculating the Lagrangian cold point (LCP). The geographic location of the LCPs, which indicates the region where the set point of water vapor mixing ratio along these trajectories occurs, can be predominantly attributed to the Asian monsoon region.

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Satellite Assessment of Divergent Water Vapor Transport from NCEP, ERA40, and JRA25 Reanalyses over the Asian Summer Monsoon Region

Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan Ser II ◽

10.2151/jmsj.85.615 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 85 (5) ◽

pp. 615-632 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Seong-Chan PARK ◽

Byung-Ju SOHN ◽

Bin WANG

Keyword(s):

Water Vapor ◽

Summer Monsoon ◽

Asian Summer Monsoon ◽

Vapor Transport ◽

Water Vapor Transport ◽

Monsoon Region ◽

Asian Summer ◽

Summer Monsoon Region

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First airborne water vapor lidar measurements in the tropical upper troposphere and mid-latitudes lower stratosphere: accuracy evaluation and intercomparisons with other instruments

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-8-5245-2008 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 8 (17) ◽

pp. 5245-5261 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

C. Kiemle ◽

M. Wirth ◽

A. Fix ◽

G. Ehret ◽

U. Schumann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Vapor ◽

Lower Stratosphere ◽

Average Distance ◽

Tropical Convection ◽

Water Vapor Transport ◽

Mixing Ratio ◽

Upper Troposphere ◽

Research Aircraft ◽

Tropical Upper Troposphere

Abstract. In the tropics, deep convection is the major source of uncertainty in water vapor transport to the upper troposphere and into the stratosphere. Although accurate measurements in this region would be of first order importance to better understand the processes that govern stratospheric water vapor concentrations and trends in the context of a changing climate, they are sparse because of instrumental shortcomings and observational challenges. Therefore, the Falcon research aircraft of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) flew a zenith-viewing water vapor differential absorption lidar (DIAL) during the Tropical Convection, Cirrus and Nitrogen Oxides Experiment (TROCCINOX) in 2004 and 2005 in Brazil. The measurements were performed alternatively on three water vapor absorption lines of different strength around 940 nm. These are the first aircraft DIAL measurements in the tropical upper troposphere and in the mid-latitudes lower stratosphere. Sensitivity analyses reveal an accuracy of 5% between altitudes of 8 and 16 km. This is confirmed by intercomparisons with the Fast In-situ Stratospheric Hygrometer (FISH) and the Fluorescent Advanced Stratospheric Hygrometer (FLASH) onboard the Russian M-55 Geophysica research aircraft during five coordinated flights. The average relative differences between FISH and DIAL amount to −3%±8% and between FLASH and DIAL to −8%±14%, negative meaning DIAL is more humid. The average distance between the probed air masses was 129 km. The DIAL is found to have no altitude- or latitude-dependent bias. A comparison with the balloon ascent of a laser absorption spectrometer gives an average difference of 0%±19% at a distance of 75 km. Six tropical DIAL under-flights of the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) on board ENVISAT reveal a mean difference of −8%±49% at an average distance of 315 km. While the comparison with MIPAS is somewhat less significant due to poorer comparison conditions, the agreement with the in-situ hygrometers provides evidence of the excellent quality of FISH, FLASH and DIAL. Most DIAL profiles exhibit a smooth exponential decrease of water vapor mixing ratio in the tropical upper troposphere to lower stratosphere transition. The hygropause with a minimum mixing ratio of 2.5 µmol/mol is found between 15 and 17 km. A high-resolution (2 km horizontal, 0.2 km vertical) DIAL cross section through the anvil outflow of tropical convection shows that the ambient humidity is increased by a factor of three across 100 km.

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Different Roles of Water Vapor Transport and Cold Advection in the Intensive Snowfall Events over North China and the Yangtze River Valley

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos10070368 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 368 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zhixing Xie ◽

Bo Sun

Keyword(s):

Water Vapor ◽

Yangtze River ◽

North China ◽

Dominant Role ◽

Eastern China ◽

Yangtze River Valley ◽

River Valley ◽

Vapor Transport ◽

Water Vapor Transport

Intensive snowfall events (ISEs) have a profound impact on the society and economy in China during winter. Considering that the interaction between northerly cold advection and southerly water vapor transport (WVT) is generally an essential condition for the occurrence of ISEs in eastern China, this study investigates the different roles of anomalous southerly WVT and northerly cold advection during the ISEs in the North China (NC) and Yangtze River valley (YRV) regions based on a composite analysis of seventy ISE cases in NC and forty ISE cases in the YRV region from 1961 to 2014. The results indicate that the ISEs in NC are mainly associated with a significant pre-conditioning of water vapor over NC induced by southerly WVT anomalies over eastern China, whereas the ISEs in the YRV region are mainly associated with a strengthened Siberian High (SH) and strong northerly cold advection invading the YRV region. These results suggest a dominant role of anomalous southerly WVT in triggering the ISEs in NC and a dominant role of northerly cold advection in triggering the ISEs in the YRV region. The different roles of anomalous southerly WVT and northerly cold advection in the ISEs over the NC and YRV regions are largely attributed to the different winter climate in the NC and YRV regions—during winter, the NC (YRV) region is dominated by cold and dry (relatively warm and moist) air flow and hence southerly WVT (northerly cold advection) is the key factor for triggering the ISEs in NC (the YRV region).

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