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Global sources of local precipitation as determined by the Nasa/Giss GCM
Author(s) -
Koster R.,
Jouzel J.,
Suozzo R.,
Russell G.,
Broecker W.,
Rind D.,
Eagleson P.
Publication year - 1986
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 - 10.1029/gl013i002p00121
Subject(s) - precipitation , latitude , middle latitudes , gcm transcription factors , climatology , environmental science , water vapor , atmospheric sciences , moisture , geology , general circulation model , meteorology , climate change , oceanography , geography , geodesy
The origin of water precipitating in different geographic regions is investigated with the NASA/GISS GCM. Water evaporating from various source regions is "tagged" and then followed as a tracer in four model simulations, one for each season. The contributions of source region evaporations to simulated rainfall at specific locations is tabulated. The results show that in the summer, water vapor for midlatitude and high latitude precipitation tends to be recycled locally, whereas low latitude continental precipitation is more dependent on oceanic moisture sources.