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Current state and future challenges in stable isotope applications of the tropical hydrologic cycle ( Invited Commentary )
Author(s) -
Vuille Mathias
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.11490
Subject(s) - state (computer science) , citation , atmospheric research , library science , associate editor , environmental ethics , history , geography , computer science , meteorology , philosophy , algorithm
Both basic research and applications of stable isotope hydrology in the tropics have come a long way since the seminal work by early pioneers such as Dansgaard (1964), Gat (1996), and Araguas‐Araguas, Froehlich, and Rozanski (2000). Stable isotopes are now routinely used in tropical meteorology, contributing to diagnosing a number of synoptic‐scale atmospheric processes, including cyclone water and energy budgets (Lawrence & Gedzelman, 1996), boundary‐layer processes (see review in Galewsky et al., 2016), the role of stratiform versus convective processes in tropical precipitation (Aggarwal et al., 2016; Zwart, Munksgaard, Protat, Kurita, & Bird, 2018), intraseasonal (Kurita et al., 2011) and intra‐storm variability (Cobb, Conroy, Hitta, & Bosma, 2018; Conroy, Noone, Cobb, Moerman, & Konecky, 2016), the role of raindrop re‐evaporation in convective systems (Lee & Fung, 2008; Risi, Bony, & Vimeux, 2008) and its contribution to lower tropospheric humidity (Worden, Noone, & Bowman, 2007), or detection of changes in moisture source contribution (e.g., Gimeno et al., 2012; Levin, Zipser, & Cerling, 2009). The advanced use of information on the isotopic composition of water vapour may hold potential for improving operational meteorology and weather forecasting (e.g., Yoshimura, 2015). Galewsky et al. (2016) give an excellent review on current stable isotopic applications in studies of atmospheric circulation and the hydrologic cycle. Stable isotopic mixing models are commonly applied to determine the contribution of plant transpiration versus soil and open water evaporation to the isotopic composition of the lower troposphere (e.g., Moreira et al., 1997). Such isotopic studies of bio‐ meteorological processes are important to understand changes in transpiration associated with deforestation and land use change and can pinpoint the relevance of plant transpiration to the overall atmospheric water budget in tropical catchments and at a global scale