[1] The advection-condensation (A-C) paradigm is a starting point for a theoretical framework for analysis of atmospheric water vapor distributions and changes therein in a changing climate. It postulates that water vapor concentrations are governed to leading order by the transport through the full four-dimensional temperature (and hence saturation mixing ratio) field. Brewer's (1949) qualitative deduction of the stratospheric circulation based on water vapor measurements was a first and prominently successful application of this paradigm. Here we examine the quantitative validity of the A-C paradigm by predicting stratospheric water vapor based on the saturation mixing ratio at the Lagrangian dry point of trajectories calculated using data from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts. Using different data sets for the calculation, we show that results are sensitive to seemingly small differences in temperatures and wind fields and that interpretation of results (in terms of identification of effects of processes deliberately neglected by the advection-condensation paradigm) requires a careful error calculation. We introduce a semiempirical approach to analyze errors in the Lagrangian predictions of water vapor. We show that persistent (in time and space) errors in the temperature fields lead to similar errors in the Lagrangian model predictions. Conversely, biases in the variance of the temperature fields introduces a systematic bias in the model prediction. Further, model predictions are affected by dispersion and the time scale of troposphere-to-stratosphere transport. Our conclusion is that water vapor predictions for the stratospheric overworld based on the A-C paradigm have a dry bias of −40% ± 10% and −50% ± 10% when small-space-scale and short-time-scale temperature fluctuations not resolved by the ECMWF reanalyses are taken into account. We suggest that the correction to the A-C paradigm most likely to remove this dry bias is the inclusion of cloud microphysical processes (such as incomplete sedimentation of particles allowing reevaporation), which relax the assumption of instantaneous dehydration to the saturation mixing ratio. Interestingly, the bias attributed to the A-C paradigm in terms of water vapor concentration is found to be proportional to the measured water concentration, and a constant offset in terms of frost point temperature can account for much of the bias and its variability in water vapor mixing ratios.Citation: Liu, Y. S., S. Fueglistaler, and P. H. Haynes (2010), Advection-condensation paradigm for stratospheric water vapor,

[1] The relative contributions of Southeast Asian convective source regions during boreal summer to water vapor in the tropical stratosphere are examined using Lagrangian trajectories. Convective sources are identified using global observations of infrared brightness temperature at high space and time resolution, and water vapor transport is simulated using advection-condensation. Trajectory simulations are driven by three different reanalysis data sets, GMAO MERRA, ERA-Interim, and NCEP/NCAR, to establish points of consistency and evaluate the sensitivity of the results to differences in the underlying meteorological fields. All ensembles indicate that Southeast Asia is a prominent boreal summer source of tropospheric air to the tropical stratosphere. Three convective source domains are identified within Southeast Asia: the Bay of Bengal and South Asian subcontinent (MON), the South China and Philippine Seas (SCS), and the Tibetan Plateau and South Slope of the Himalayas (TIB). Water vapor transport into the stratosphere from these three domains exhibits systematic differences that are related to differences in the bulk characteristics of transport. We find air emanating from SCS to be driest, from MON slightly moister, and from TIB moistest. Analysis of pathways shows that air detrained from convection over TIB is most likely to bypass the region of minimum absolute saturation mixing ratio over the equatorial western Pacific; however, the impact of this bypass mechanism on mean water vapor in the tropical stratosphere at 68 hPa is small (<0.1 ppmv). This result contrasts with previously published hypotheses, and it highlights the challenge of properly quantifying fluxes of atmospheric humidity.

[1] We analyze the relation between atmospheric temperature and water vapor-a fundamental component of the global climate system-for stratospheric water vapor (SWV). We compare measurements of SWV (and methane where available) over the period 1980-2011 from NOAA balloon-borne frostpoint hygrometer (NOAA-FPH), SAGE II, Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE), Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS)/Aura, and Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) to model predictions based on troposphere-to-stratosphere transport from ERA-Interim, and temperatures from ERA-Interim, Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis (MERRA), Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), Radiosonde Atmospheric Temperature Products for Assessing Climate (RATPAC), HadAT2, and RICHv1.5. All model predictions are dry biased. The interannual anomalies of the model predictions show periods of fairly regular oscillations, alternating with more quiescent periods and a few large-amplitude oscillations. They all agree well (correlation coefficients 0.9 and larger) with observations for higherfrequency variations (periods up to 2-3 years). Differences between SWV observations, and temperature data, respectively, render analysis of the model minus observation residual difficult. However, we find fairly well-defined periods of drifts in the residuals. For the 1980s, model predictions differ most, and only the calculation with ERA-Interim temperatures is roughly within observational uncertainties. All model predictions show a drying relative to HALOE in the 1990s, followed by a moistening in the early 2000s. Drifts to NOAA-FPH are similar (but stronger), whereas no drift is present against SAGE II. As a result, the model calculations have a less pronounced drop in SWV in 2000 than HALOE. From the mid-2000s onward, models and observations agree reasonably, and some differences can be traced to problems in the temperature data. These results indicate that both SWV and temperature data may still suffer from artifacts that need to be resolved in order to answer the question whether the large-scale flow and temperature field is sufficient to explain water entering the stratosphere. Citation: Fueglistaler, S., et al. (2013), The relation between atmospheric humidity and temperature trends for stratospheric water,