Contribution of transpiration to the atmospheric moisture in eastern Siberia estimated with isotopic composition of water vapour

Abstract

Isotopic composition of atmospheric water vapour (δ18OV) was observed at a larch forest near Yakutsk in eastern Siberia during the late summer periods of 2006, 2007 and 2008. The δ18OV [and deuterium excess (d‐excess)] values observed in 2006 and 2008 positively (and negatively) correlated with mixing ratio of atmospheric water vapour, whereas, in 2007 when soil was extremely wet and resulted in limitation of plant transpiration, neither correlation was found between mixing ratio and δ18OV nor d‐excess. Observed results were also compared with components of atmospheric water balance calculated for a 500 × 500 km region; however, neither specific relationship between δ18OV and horizontal advection (direction) nor evapotranspiration was observed. On the other hand, obviously low δ18OV and high d‐excess values were found with low mixing ratio after removal of water vapour from the atmosphere because of the process of rainout in 2006 and 2008. Assuming the δ18OV under this condition to be a background, and also assuming the δ18O of sap water in larch trees as transpired water vapour, contribution of transpiration to the atmospheric water vapour was calculated. Fraction of transpired water vapour to the atmospheric water vapour was nearly 0·8 in maximum when plant transpiration was active under warm condition. Our isotope data confirm the importance of recycling of water through transpiration of forest plants in taiga to the hydrologic cycle in eastern Siberia. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hydrological interactions between oases and water vapor transportation in the Tarim Basin, northwestern China

“…In addition, increases in local water vapor sources from local evapotranspiration increase precipitation. This effect can account for 20–50% of the total ambient water vapor in humid regions 28–30 , with values up to 80% when plant transpiration is active in warm conditions 31 . Moreover, such inflow can account for up to 20% of the precipitation in arid and semiarid regions 32,33 .…”

Spatial and temporal variations of stable isotopes in precipitation in midlatitude coastal regions

“…The isotopic composition of precipitation is essential baseline data for various applications. Since the earliest studies by Craig () and Dansgaard (), the isotopic composition of precipitation has been used for various research fields and applications in hydrological processes, such as studies on plant water use (Sugimoto, Yanagisawa, Naito, Fujita, & Maximov, ; Sugimoto et al, ), lake and catchment water balance (Gat, Bowser, & Kendall, ; Gibson & Edwards, ; Ichiyanagi et al, ; Telmer & Veizer, ), groundwater (Deshpande, Bhattacharya, Jani, & Gupta, ; Gupta, Deshpande, Bhattacharya, & Jani, ; Lambert & Aharon, ), and the origin of water vapor (Uemura, Matsui, Yoshimura, Motoyama, & Yoshida, ; Yamanaka & Shimizu, ; Zhang, Sun, Wang, Yu, & Wen, ), as well as in atmospheric science (Gat, ; Risi et al, ; Ueta, Sugimoto, Iijima, Yabuki, & Maximov, ; Ueta et al, ; Winkler et al, ) and paleoclimate reconstruction applications (Chamberlain, Winnick, Mix, Chamberlain, & Maher, ; Jouzel, Merlivat, & Lorius, ; McCarroll & Loader, ; Seki et al, ). Generally, the isotopic composition of precipitation shows a positive correlation with local temperature and a negative correlation with the amount of local precipitation; these are known as the temperature and amount effects, respectively (Araguas‐Araguas, Froehlich, & Rozanski, ; Dansgaard, ; Dayem, Molnar, Battisti, & Roe, ; Wright & Leavitt, ).…”

“…Indeed, water vapor, as a source of precipitation, is a potential factor controlling the isotopic composition of precipitation. Previous studies have investigated the isotopic composition of water vapor using the cold trap method (Fudeyasu et al, ; Ueta et al, ; Ueta et al, ; Yamanaka & Shimizu, ), ground‐based Fourier transform infrared spectrometers (Schneider, Hase, & Blumenstock, ; Schneider, Yoshimura, Hase, & Blumenstock, ), and satellite data (Frankenberg et al, ; Payne, Noone, Dudhia, Piccolo, & Grainger, ; Risi et al, ; Sayres et al, ; Worden et al, ).…”

Spatial patterns of sample entropy based on daily precipitation time series in China and their implications for land surface hydrological interactions

“…Regarding WV transfer, on the one hand, the evolution of the atmosphere is a process of increasing entropy. On the other hand, and more importantly, local WV inflow plays an important role in precipitation composition, accounting for up to 20-50% of the total ambient WV in humid regions (Gat et al, 1994;2003;Worden et al, 2007;Vallet-Coulomb et al, 2008) and up to 80% when plant transpiration is active in warm conditions (Ueta et al, 2014). Moreover, such inflow can account for up to 20% of the total WV in arid and F I G U R E 5 SE changes along the primary WV route in each subregion of China semiarid regions (Ingraham and Taylor, 1991;Kong et al, 2013).…”

“…The other part comes from the local‐scale hydrological cycle, mainly from evapotranspiration, which is related to local land surface conditions, such as vegetation cover, topography and land use. Based on stable isotopic data of deuterium (H 2 ) and oxygen‐18 (O 18 ), local WVS are distinguished from the total atmospheric WV, and they account for as much as 20–50% of the ambient WV in humid regions (Gat et al ., ; ; Worden et al ., ; Vallet‐Coulomb et al ., ; Jasechko et al ., ) and up to 80% when plant transpiration is active in warm conditions (Ueta et al ., ). Such sources also account for up to 20% of the ambient WV in arid and semiarid regions (Ingraham and Taylor, ; Xu et al ., ; Kong et al ., ).…”