Water vapour transport to the high latitudes : mechanisms and variability from reanalyses and radiosoundings
The water vapour converging to the polar regions condenses into heat-trappingclouds and eventually precipitates, freshening the polar oceans and thickening the ice-sheets. Modulo circulation changes, the moisture transport is expected to increase in a warmer climate. While the extra precipitation co...
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Other Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
Language: | English |
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HAL CCSD
2016
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Online Access: | https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031 https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031/document https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031/file/DUFOUR_2016_archivage.pdf |
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ftinsu:oai:HAL:tel-01562031v1 |
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record_format |
openpolar |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU |
op_collection_id |
ftinsu |
language |
English |
topic |
Moisture transport Arctic Antarctic Reanalyses Radiosoundings Cyclones Transports de vapeur d'eau Arctique Antarctique Réanalyses Radiosondages [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Moisture transport Arctic Antarctic Reanalyses Radiosoundings Cyclones Transports de vapeur d'eau Arctique Antarctique Réanalyses Radiosondages [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences Dufour, Ambroise Water vapour transport to the high latitudes : mechanisms and variability from reanalyses and radiosoundings |
topic_facet |
Moisture transport Arctic Antarctic Reanalyses Radiosoundings Cyclones Transports de vapeur d'eau Arctique Antarctique Réanalyses Radiosondages [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
description |
The water vapour converging to the polar regions condenses into heat-trappingclouds and eventually precipitates, freshening the polar oceans and thickening the ice-sheets. Modulo circulation changes, the moisture transport is expected to increase in a warmer climate. While the extra precipitation could dampen the ice sheets’ contribution to sea level rise, the surplus of moisture could also feed back on the surface warming. However, the present variability of the polar moisture budgets must be known precisely before they can be projected with confidence into the future.This study examines the atmospheric water cycle of both the Arctic and the Antarctic in seven global reanalyses and in radiosonde observations covering the 1979-2013 period. The impacts of known model and assimilation flaws and of the various numerical approximations were evaluated and proven to be limited, at least for the moisture flux variable and the more recent reanalyses.In the Arctic, aside from a slight overestimation, the northward fluxes in reanalyses exhibit a remarkable agreement with the radiosoundings in terms of spatial and temporal patterns. In all reanalyses, transient eddies provide the bulk of the mid-latitude moisture imports – 89-94% at 70◦ N. In most datasets, evaporation, precipitation and precipitable water increase in line with what is expected from a warming signal. However fluxes do not scale with the Clausius-Clapeyron relation because the increasing humidity is not correlatedwith the meridional wind, particularly near the surface.The representations of the Antarctic atmospheric water cycle in reanalyses suffer from the scarcity of observations : the moisture convergence estimations vary from 117 to 156 mm per year. On the coast, the mean moisture flux results from the interplay between transient eddies and katabatic winds, which are particularly sensitive to the orography. The coastalradiosonde sites report significant increases of the southward moisture fluxes but otherwise there are practically no trends in ... |
author2 |
Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ) Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 )-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 ) Université Grenoble Alpes Olga Zolina |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Dufour, Ambroise |
author_facet |
Dufour, Ambroise |
author_sort |
Dufour, Ambroise |
title |
Water vapour transport to the high latitudes : mechanisms and variability from reanalyses and radiosoundings |
title_short |
Water vapour transport to the high latitudes : mechanisms and variability from reanalyses and radiosoundings |
title_full |
Water vapour transport to the high latitudes : mechanisms and variability from reanalyses and radiosoundings |
title_fullStr |
Water vapour transport to the high latitudes : mechanisms and variability from reanalyses and radiosoundings |
title_full_unstemmed |
Water vapour transport to the high latitudes : mechanisms and variability from reanalyses and radiosoundings |
title_sort |
water vapour transport to the high latitudes : mechanisms and variability from reanalyses and radiosoundings |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031 https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031/document https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031/file/DUFOUR_2016_archivage.pdf |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctique* Arctic Arctique* |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctique* Arctic Arctique* |
op_source |
https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031 Earth Sciences. Université Grenoble Alpes, 2016. English. ⟨NNT : 2016GREAU042⟩ |
op_relation |
NNT: 2016GREAU042 tel-01562031 https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031 https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031/document https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031/file/DUFOUR_2016_archivage.pdf |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
_version_ |
1797572618809769984 |
spelling |
ftinsu:oai:HAL:tel-01562031v1 2024-04-28T08:00:21+00:00 Water vapour transport to the high latitudes : mechanisms and variability from reanalyses and radiosoundings Transport de vapeur d’eau vers les hautes latitudes : mécanismes et variabilité d’après réanalyses et radiosondages Dufour, Ambroise Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG ) Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 )-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 ) Université Grenoble Alpes Olga Zolina 2016-03-24 https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031 https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031/document https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031/file/DUFOUR_2016_archivage.pdf en eng HAL CCSD NNT: 2016GREAU042 tel-01562031 https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031 https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031/document https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031/file/DUFOUR_2016_archivage.pdf info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562031 Earth Sciences. Université Grenoble Alpes, 2016. English. ⟨NNT : 2016GREAU042⟩ Moisture transport Arctic Antarctic Reanalyses Radiosoundings Cyclones Transports de vapeur d'eau Arctique Antarctique Réanalyses Radiosondages [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis Theses 2016 ftinsu 2024-04-05T00:47:10Z The water vapour converging to the polar regions condenses into heat-trappingclouds and eventually precipitates, freshening the polar oceans and thickening the ice-sheets. Modulo circulation changes, the moisture transport is expected to increase in a warmer climate. While the extra precipitation could dampen the ice sheets’ contribution to sea level rise, the surplus of moisture could also feed back on the surface warming. However, the present variability of the polar moisture budgets must be known precisely before they can be projected with confidence into the future.This study examines the atmospheric water cycle of both the Arctic and the Antarctic in seven global reanalyses and in radiosonde observations covering the 1979-2013 period. The impacts of known model and assimilation flaws and of the various numerical approximations were evaluated and proven to be limited, at least for the moisture flux variable and the more recent reanalyses.In the Arctic, aside from a slight overestimation, the northward fluxes in reanalyses exhibit a remarkable agreement with the radiosoundings in terms of spatial and temporal patterns. In all reanalyses, transient eddies provide the bulk of the mid-latitude moisture imports – 89-94% at 70◦ N. In most datasets, evaporation, precipitation and precipitable water increase in line with what is expected from a warming signal. However fluxes do not scale with the Clausius-Clapeyron relation because the increasing humidity is not correlatedwith the meridional wind, particularly near the surface.The representations of the Antarctic atmospheric water cycle in reanalyses suffer from the scarcity of observations : the moisture convergence estimations vary from 117 to 156 mm per year. On the coast, the mean moisture flux results from the interplay between transient eddies and katabatic winds, which are particularly sensitive to the orography. The coastalradiosonde sites report significant increases of the southward moisture fluxes but otherwise there are practically no trends in ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Antarc* Antarctic Antarctique* Arctic Arctique* Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU |