Intercomparison of atmospheric water vapour measurements at a Canadian High Arctic site

• Published in: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
• Other Authors: Weaver, Dan (author), Strong, Kimberly (author), Schneider, Matthias (author), Rowe, Penny M. (author), Sioris, Chris (author), Walker, Kaley A. (author), Mariani, Zen (author), Uttal, Taneil (author), McElroy, C. Thomas (author), Vömel, Holger (author), Spassiani, Alessio (author), Drummond, James R. (author)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Arctic; Eureka; Nunavut
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2851-2017

Water vapour is a critical component of the Earth system. Techniques to acquire and improve measurements of atmospheric water vapour and its isotopes are under active development. This work presents a detailed intercomparison of water vapour total column measurements taken between 2006 and 2014 at a Canadian High Arctic research site (Eureka, Nunavut). Instruments include radiosondes, sun photometers, a microwave radiometer, and emission and solar absorption Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers. Close agreement is observed between all combination of datasets, with mean differences <= 1.0 kg m(-2) and correlation coefficients >= 0.98. The one exception in the observed high correlation is the comparison between the microwave radiometer and a radiosonde product, which had a correlation coefficient of 0.92.