The global distribution of natural tritium in precipitation simulated with an Atmospheric General Circulation Model and comparison with observations
The description of the hydrological cycle in Atmospheric General Circulation Models (GCMs) can be validated using water isotopes as tracers. Many GCMs now simulate the movement of the stable isotopes of water, but here we present the first GCM simulations modelling the content of natural tritium in...
Published in: | Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10278/3661969 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.043 |
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ftuniveneziairis:oai:iris.unive.it:10278/3661969 2024-04-14T08:04:26+00:00 The global distribution of natural tritium in precipitation simulated with an Atmospheric General Circulation Model and comparison with observations Cauquoin, A. Jean Baptiste, P. Risi, C. Fourré, E. Landais, A. STENNI, Barbara Cauquoin, A. Jean Baptiste, P. Risi, C. Fourré, E. Stenni, Barbara Landais, A. 2015 http://hdl.handle.net/10278/3661969 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.043 unknown info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000359330800017 volume:427 firstpage:160 lastpage:170 numberofpages:11 journal:EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS http://hdl.handle.net/10278/3661969 doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.043 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-84937144392 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess tritium hydrological cycle GCM stratospheric air intrusions STRATOSPHERE-TROPOSPHERE EXCHANGE ISOTOPIC SNOW VARIABILITY CUMULUS CONVECTION EAST ANTARCTICA ITASE TRAVERSE WATER CLIMATE REANALYSIS TRANSPORT FALLOUT Settore GEO/08 - Geochimica e Vulcanologia info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2015 ftuniveneziairis https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.043 2024-03-21T18:04:51Z The description of the hydrological cycle in Atmospheric General Circulation Models (GCMs) can be validated using water isotopes as tracers. Many GCMs now simulate the movement of the stable isotopes of water, but here we present the first GCM simulations modelling the content of natural tritium in water. These simulations were obtained using a version of the LMDZ General Circulation Model enhanced by water isotopes diagnostics, LMDZ-iso. To avoid tritium generated by nuclear bomb testing, the simulations have been evaluated against a compilation of published tritium datasets dating from before 1950, or measured recently. LMDZ-iso correctly captures the observed tritium enrichment in precipitation as oceanic air moves inland (the so-called continental effect) and the observed north-south variations due to the latitudinal dependency of the cosmogenic tritium production rate. The seasonal variability, linked to the stratospheric intrusions of air masses with higher tritium content into the troposphere, is correctly reproduced for Antarctica with a maximum in winter. LMDZ-iso reproduces the spring maximum of tritium over Europe, but underestimates it and produces a peak in winter that is not apparent in the data. This implementation of tritium in a GCM promises to provide a better constraint on: (1) the intrusions and transport of air masses from the stratosphere, and (2) the dynamics of the modelled water cycle. The method complements the existing approach of using stable water isotopes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia: ARCA (Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca) East Antarctica Earth and Planetary Science Letters 427 160 170 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia: ARCA (Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca) |
op_collection_id |
ftuniveneziairis |
language |
unknown |
topic |
tritium hydrological cycle GCM stratospheric air intrusions STRATOSPHERE-TROPOSPHERE EXCHANGE ISOTOPIC SNOW VARIABILITY CUMULUS CONVECTION EAST ANTARCTICA ITASE TRAVERSE WATER CLIMATE REANALYSIS TRANSPORT FALLOUT Settore GEO/08 - Geochimica e Vulcanologia |
spellingShingle |
tritium hydrological cycle GCM stratospheric air intrusions STRATOSPHERE-TROPOSPHERE EXCHANGE ISOTOPIC SNOW VARIABILITY CUMULUS CONVECTION EAST ANTARCTICA ITASE TRAVERSE WATER CLIMATE REANALYSIS TRANSPORT FALLOUT Settore GEO/08 - Geochimica e Vulcanologia Cauquoin, A. Jean Baptiste, P. Risi, C. Fourré, E. Landais, A. STENNI, Barbara The global distribution of natural tritium in precipitation simulated with an Atmospheric General Circulation Model and comparison with observations |
topic_facet |
tritium hydrological cycle GCM stratospheric air intrusions STRATOSPHERE-TROPOSPHERE EXCHANGE ISOTOPIC SNOW VARIABILITY CUMULUS CONVECTION EAST ANTARCTICA ITASE TRAVERSE WATER CLIMATE REANALYSIS TRANSPORT FALLOUT Settore GEO/08 - Geochimica e Vulcanologia |
description |
The description of the hydrological cycle in Atmospheric General Circulation Models (GCMs) can be validated using water isotopes as tracers. Many GCMs now simulate the movement of the stable isotopes of water, but here we present the first GCM simulations modelling the content of natural tritium in water. These simulations were obtained using a version of the LMDZ General Circulation Model enhanced by water isotopes diagnostics, LMDZ-iso. To avoid tritium generated by nuclear bomb testing, the simulations have been evaluated against a compilation of published tritium datasets dating from before 1950, or measured recently. LMDZ-iso correctly captures the observed tritium enrichment in precipitation as oceanic air moves inland (the so-called continental effect) and the observed north-south variations due to the latitudinal dependency of the cosmogenic tritium production rate. The seasonal variability, linked to the stratospheric intrusions of air masses with higher tritium content into the troposphere, is correctly reproduced for Antarctica with a maximum in winter. LMDZ-iso reproduces the spring maximum of tritium over Europe, but underestimates it and produces a peak in winter that is not apparent in the data. This implementation of tritium in a GCM promises to provide a better constraint on: (1) the intrusions and transport of air masses from the stratosphere, and (2) the dynamics of the modelled water cycle. The method complements the existing approach of using stable water isotopes. |
author2 |
Cauquoin, A. Jean Baptiste, P. Risi, C. Fourré, E. Stenni, Barbara Landais, A. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cauquoin, A. Jean Baptiste, P. Risi, C. Fourré, E. Landais, A. STENNI, Barbara |
author_facet |
Cauquoin, A. Jean Baptiste, P. Risi, C. Fourré, E. Landais, A. STENNI, Barbara |
author_sort |
Cauquoin, A. |
title |
The global distribution of natural tritium in precipitation simulated with an Atmospheric General Circulation Model and comparison with observations |
title_short |
The global distribution of natural tritium in precipitation simulated with an Atmospheric General Circulation Model and comparison with observations |
title_full |
The global distribution of natural tritium in precipitation simulated with an Atmospheric General Circulation Model and comparison with observations |
title_fullStr |
The global distribution of natural tritium in precipitation simulated with an Atmospheric General Circulation Model and comparison with observations |
title_full_unstemmed |
The global distribution of natural tritium in precipitation simulated with an Atmospheric General Circulation Model and comparison with observations |
title_sort |
global distribution of natural tritium in precipitation simulated with an atmospheric general circulation model and comparison with observations |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10278/3661969 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.043 |
geographic |
East Antarctica |
geographic_facet |
East Antarctica |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica East Antarctica |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000359330800017 volume:427 firstpage:160 lastpage:170 numberofpages:11 journal:EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS http://hdl.handle.net/10278/3661969 doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.043 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-84937144392 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.043 |
container_title |
Earth and Planetary Science Letters |
container_volume |
427 |
container_start_page |
160 |
op_container_end_page |
170 |
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1796300951699587072 |