Deuterium and Oxygen 18 in Water Vapour and Precipitation: Application to Atmospheric Water Vapour Transport and to Paleoclimate

Effects of postcondensation exchange on the isotopic composition of water in the atmosphere

“…Thus, the broad extratropical bands of positive temperature correlation seen during DJF in Figure 14 are in fact the superposition of two correlation patterns with distinct underlying mechanisms: Rayleigh depletion and PCE. The European case is interesting because of the availability of high‐quality precipitation δ 18 O data from the GNIP network, which has resulted in a succession of studies over the region, starting with Sonntag and Schoch‐Fischer [1985] and Rozanski et al [1992]. Recently, Baldini et al [2008] and Field [2010] examined the controls over European δ 18 O, identifying regional temperature and the underlying atmospheric circulation controls in the form of the North Atlantic Oscillation and Northern Annular Mode as important.…”

“… Dansgaard [1964] used the model to explain the observed poleward decrease of precipitation δ 18 O and its positive relationship with surface temperature, referred to as the “temperature effect,” which results primarily from the temperature dependence of saturation vapor pressure. The model has been widely used to interpret the decrease of precipitation δ 18 O toward the continental interiors, for example, in Europe [ Rozanski et al , 1982; Sonntag and Schoch‐Fischer , 1985], northeast Asia [ Kurita et al , 2004; Yamanaka et al , 2007], and southeast Asia [ Araguas‐Araguas et al , 1998]. More sophisticated, Rayleigh‐like distillation models have been applied in Lagrangian and Eulerian frameworks to reanalysis fields and used to characterize transport pathways under different circulation regimes [e.g., Yoshimura et al , 2003; Sodemann et al , 2008].…”

Observed and modeled controls on precipitation δ18O over Europe: From local temperature to the Northern Annular Mode

“…18 O composition is influenced strongly by precipitation [Sonntag and Schoch-Fischer, 1985;Leng and Marshall, 2004;Lachniet, 2009], and a better understanding of the controls on precipitation d…”

“…18 O composition of precipitation, however, reflects the entire history of an air mass, and so will also be influenced by nonlocal effects such as changes in transport pathway, and ultimately, changes in atmospheric circulation [Sonntag and Schoch-Fischer, 1985;Jouzel et al, 1997;Araguas-Araguas et al, 2000]. Recently, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) was found to have considerable influence on European precipitation d 18 O during winter, with the positive NAO phase being associated with less depleted precipitation d…”