Genesis, Pathways, and Terminations of Intense Global Water Vapor Transport in Association with Large‐Scale Climate Patterns

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Sellars, SL, Kawzenuk, B, Nguyen, P, Ralph, FM, Sorooshian, S
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: eScholarship, University of California 2017
• Subjects: Climate Action; computational Earth science; water vapor transport; climate variability; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences; Arctic; Pacific
• Online Access: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5s12h2qj; https://escholarship.org/content/qt5s12h2qj/qt5s12h2qj.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/2017gl075495

The CONNected objECT (CONNECT) algorithm is applied to global Integrated Water Vapor Transport data from the NASA's Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications – Version 2 reanalysis product for the period of 1980 to 2016. The algorithm generates life-cycle records in time and space evolving strong vapor transport events. We show five regions, located in the midlatitudes, where events typically exist (off the coast of the southeast United States, eastern China, eastern South America, off the southern tip of South Africa, and in the southeastern Pacific Ocean). Global statistics show distinct genesis and termination regions and global seasonal peak frequency during Northern Hemisphere late fall/winter and Southern Hemisphere winter. In addition, the event frequency and geographical location are shown to be modulated by the Arctic Oscillation, Pacific North American Pattern, and the quasi-biennial oscillation. Moreover, a positive linear trend in the annual number of objects is reported, increasing by 3.58 objects year-over-year.