Global Water Vapor Trend from 1988 to 2011 and Its Diurnal Asymmetry Based on GPS, Radiosonde, and Microwave Satellite Measurements

Wang, Junhong; Dai, Aiguo; Mears, Carl

doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0485.1

i

Global Water Vapor Trend from 1988 to 2011 and Its Diurnal Asymmetry Based on GPS, Radiosonde, and Microwave Satellite Measurements

2016
By Wang, Junhong ; Dai, Aiguo ; Mears, Carl

Details

Journal Title:

Journal of Climate
Personal Author:

Wang, Junhong ; Dai, Aiguo ; Mears, Carl
NOAA Program & Office:

OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; CPO (Climate Program Office)
Description:

This study analyzes trends in precipitable water (PW) over land and ocean from 1988 to 2011, the PW–surface temperature Ts relationship, and their diurnal asymmetry using homogenized radiosonde data, microwave satellite observations, and ground-based global positioning system (GPS) measurements. It is found that positive PW trends predominate over the globe, with larger magnitudes over ocean than over land. The PW trend is correlated with surface warming spatially over ocean with a pattern correlation coefficient of 0.51. The PW percentage increase rate normalized by Ts expressed as is larger and closer to the rate implied by the Clausius–Clapeyron (C–C) equation over ocean than over land. The 2-hourly GPS PW data show that the PW trend from 1995 to 2011 is larger at night than during daytime. Nighttime PW monthly anomalies correlate positively and significantly with nighttime minimum temperature Tmin at all stations, but this is not true for daytime PW and maximum temperature Tmax. The ratio of relative PW changes with Tmin () is larger and closer to the C–C equation’s implied value of ~7% K−1 than . This suggests that the relationship between PW and Ts at night is a better indicator of the water vapor feedback than that during daytime, when clouds and other factors also influence Ts.
Keywords:

Climatology Diurnal Effects Meteorology Observations Radiosonde Variability Water Vapor Diurnal Effects Water Vapor NOAA Modeling, Analysis, Prediction and Projections (MAPP)
Source:

Journal of Climate, 29(14), 5205-5222.
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0485.1
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA15OAR4310086
Rights Information:

Other
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:21c31db382d7edb03ff373fa61417792dbba37984dbd2280aa1745d4a2dfd5a3
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/28968/noaa_28968_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 2.88 MB ]

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