We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Global total precipitable water variations and trends during 1958- 2021.
- Authors
Nenghan Wan; Xiaomao Lin; Pielke Sr., Roger A.; Xubin Zeng; Nelson, Amanda M.
- Abstract
Global responses of the hydrological cycle to climate change have been widely studied but uncertainties of temperature responses to lower-tropospheric water vapor still remain. Here, we investigate the trends in global total precipitable water (TPW) and surface temperature from 1958 to 2021 using improved ERA5 and JRA-55 reanalysis datasets and further validate these trends by using radiosonde, Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), and Microwave Satellite SSMI(S)) observations. Our results indicate a global increase in total precipitable water (TPW) of 0.66% per decade according to ERA5 data and 0.88% per decade in JRA-55 data. These variations in TPW reflect the interactions of global warming feedback mechanisms across different spatial scales. Our results also revealed a significant near-surface temperature (T2m) warming trend at the rate of 0.14 K dec-1 and a strong water vapor response to temperature at a rate of 4-6% K-1 globally, with land areas warming approximately twice as fast as the oceans. The relationship between TPW and T2m or surface skin temperature (Ts) showed a variation around 6 - 8% K-1 in the 15-60 oN latitude band, aligning with theoretical estimates from the Clausius--Clapeyron equation.
- Subjects
PRECIPITABLE water; WATER vapor; HYDROLOGIC cycle; SURFACE temperature; SKIN temperature; GLOBAL warming
- Publication
Hydrology & Earth System Sciences Discussions, 2024, p1
- ISSN
1812-2108
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5194/hess-2023-301