Dropsonde Observations of Total Integrated Water Vapor Transport within North Pacific Atmospheric Rivers

Ralph, F. M.; Iacobellis, S. F.; Neiman, P. J.; Cordeira, J. M.; Spackman, J. R.; Waliser, D. E.; Wick, G. A.; White, A. B.; Fairall, C.

doi:10.1175/JHM-D-17-0036.1

i

Dropsonde Observations of Total Integrated Water Vapor Transport within North Pacific Atmospheric Rivers

2017
By Ralph, F. M. ; Iacobellis, S. F. ; Neiman, P. J. ; Cordeira, J. M. ; Spackman, J. R. ; Waliser, D. E. ; Wick, G. A. ; White, A. B. ; Fairall, C.
Source: J Hydrometeor (2017) 18(9): 2577–2596

Details

Journal Title:

Journal of Hydrometeorology
Personal Author:

Ralph, F. M. ; Iacobellis, S. F. ; Neiman, P. J. ; Cordeira, J. M. ; Spackman, J. R. ; Waliser, D. E. ; Wick, G. A. ; White, A. B. ; Fairall, C.
NOAA Program & Office:

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; ESRL (Earth System Research Laboratory) ; PSL (Physical Sciences Laboratory)
Description:

Aircraft dropsonde observations provide the most comprehensive measurements to date of horizontal water vapor transport in atmospheric rivers (ARs). The CalWater experiment recently more than tripled the number of ARs probed with the required measurements. This study uses vertical profiles of water vapor, wind, and pressure obtained from 304 dropsondes across 21 ARs. On average, total water vapor transport (TIVT) in an AR was 4.7 × 108 ± 2 × 108 kg s−1. This magnitude is 2.6 times larger than the average discharge of liquid water from the Amazon River. The mean AR width was 890 ± 270 km. Subtropical ARs contained larger integrated water vapor (IWV) but weaker winds than midlatitude ARs, although average TIVTs were nearly the same. Mean TIVTs calculated by defining the lateral “edges” of ARs using an IVT threshold versus an IWV threshold produced results that differed by less than 10% across all cases, but did vary between the midlatitudes and subtropical regions.
Subjects:
Source:

J Hydrometeor (2017) 18(9): 2577–2596
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-17-0036.1
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA13OAR4830231 ; Grant no. NA13OAR4830271
Rights Information:

Other
Compliance:

Submitted
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/28115/noaa_28115_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 4.35 MB]
Collection(s):

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:cad6776e4872fe748d633650f79f6401de9208eeb21f7927cdb1ac50c8b29dcf

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