Premium
The Climatological Impacts of Continental Surface Evaporation, Rainout, and Subcloud Processes on δ D of Water Vapor and Precipitation in Europe
Author(s) -
Christner Emanuel,
Aemisegger Franziska,
Pfahl Stephan,
Werner Martin,
Cauquoin Alexandre,
Schneider Matthias,
Hase Frank,
Barthlott Sabine,
Schädler Gerd
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1002/2017jd027260
Subject(s) - evapotranspiration , water vapor , precipitation , environmental science , evaporation , surface water , atmospheric sciences , climatology , geology , meteorology , geography , ecology , environmental engineering , biology
All types of applications of stable water isotopes, for example, for the reconstruction of paleotemperatures or for climate model validation, rely on a proper understanding of the mechanisms determining the isotopic composition of water vapor and precipitation. In this study, we use the isotope‐enabled limited‐area model COSMO iso to characterize the impacts of continental evapotranspiration, rainout, and subcloud processes on δ D of European water vapor and precipitation. To this end, we first confirm a reliable implementation of the most important isotope fractionation processes in COSMO iso by comparing 5 years of modeled δ D values with multiplatform δ D observations from Europe (remote sensing observations of the δ D of water vapor around 2.6 km above ground level, in situ δ D measurements in near‐surface water vapor, and δ D precipitation data from the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation). Based on six 15 year sensitivity simulations, we then quantify the climatological impacts of the different fractionation processes on the δ D values. We find δ D of European water vapor and precipitation to be most strongly controlled by rainout. Superimposed to this are the effect of subcloud processes, which especially affects δ D in precipitation under warm conditions, and the effect of continental evapotranspiration, which exerts an important control over the δ D of near‐surface water vapor. In future studies, the validated COSMO iso model can be employed in a similar way for a comprehensive interpretation of European isotope records from climatologically different time periods.