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A revised picture of the atmospheric moisture residence time
Author(s) -
Läderach Alexander,
Sodemann Harald
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl067449
Subject(s) - residence time (fluid dynamics) , environmental science , precipitation , moisture , atmospheric sciences , climatology , residence , meteorology , troposphere , geology , geography , demography , geotechnical engineering , sociology
Refined Lagrangian moisture source diagnostics are applied on an air mass transport climatology covering the period 1979–2013 to provide an estimate of the atmospheric moisture residence time. Our diagnostics yield an estimate of about 4–5 days for the global mean residence time, which is about half compared to depletion times that are commonly interpreted as proxies for the residence time. The discrepancies to depletion times are mainly explained by the fact that these are based on simplified representations of precipitation processes. The revised picture given by our results is supported by the overall consistency with the footprints of precipitation producing weather systems in different regions of the Earth.