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Atmosphere
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Water Vapor in the Atmosphere
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Water Vapor in the Atmosphere

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Meteorology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2017) | Viewed by 27329

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Anthony R. Lupo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Science, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
Interests: dynamic meteorology; synoptic meteorology; climate dynamics; climate variability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Yafei Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chinese Academy of Meteorological Science, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: dynamical climate/meteorology; synoptic meteorology; monsoon; air–sea interaction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Atmospheric water vapor is a topic that still generates great interest in weather and climate studies. Water vapor concentration is highly variable in the atmosphere, in both time and space, but is at its greatest concentration near the ground and in the tropics. It is critical for the occurrence of precipitation, cloud formation, and human comfort. Phase changes in water mass has been identified as an important process in developing severe (cyclonic) weather disturbances on many time and space scales, as well as being an important energy component in maintaining the Earth’s climate. Recently, remote sensing techniques have been developed to measure water vapor content. These products have been used in operational meteorology and to study the transport of water vapor as a tracer, leading to the discovery of atmospheric rivers. Water vapor is also the most important greenhouse gas, allowing Earth to be a hospitable planet for life itself. Additionally, it is possible that the increased water vapor associated with a warmer climate could amplify climate warming or accelerate the water cycle. Authors are invited to submit manuscripts related to all topics surrounding the subject of atmospheric water vapor to this Special Issue.

Dr. Anthony Lupo
Prof. Dr. Yafei Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • precipitation processes
  • water cycle
  • remote sensing
  • cloud formation
  • climate change
  • climate variability
  • temporal or spatial variability
  • atmospheric rivers
  • feedback processes

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 13448 KiB  
Article
Atmospheric Moisture Content over Europe and the Northern Atlantic
by Agnieszka Wypych, Bogdan Bochenek and Michał Różycki
Atmosphere 2018, 9(1), 18; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos9010018 - 11 Jan 2018
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6968
Abstract
Water vapor plays a major role in the process of radiation, cloud formation, energy exchange within a system, and remains a key component of the Earth’s atmosphere. The purpose of this study is to examine the water vapor content of the troposphere over [...] Read more.
Water vapor plays a major role in the process of radiation, cloud formation, energy exchange within a system, and remains a key component of the Earth’s atmosphere. The purpose of this study is to examine the water vapor content of the troposphere over Europe and the Northern Atlantic. Both temporal and spatial differences were examined for total column water vapor (TCWV) and vertically integrated water vapor flux (IWVF) based on ERA-Interim reanalysis data. The statistical relationship between circulation patterns, as expressed by empirical orthogonal function (EOF) modes, and TCWV were examined, as were statistical relationships between distinguished advection types and TCWV and IWVF. The study confirmed the significance of atmospheric circulation in the formation of moisture content in the winter season (i.e., January) and its markedly lower impact in other seasons. The relationships noted in the study are characterized by statistically significant spatial differentiation. Spatial pattern analysis was used to identify six regions with different moisture content over the course of the year. The boundaries of the regions confirm the significant role of local factors impacting moisture content. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Vapor in the Atmosphere)
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12286 KiB  
Article
Diagnosis of the Tropical Moisture Exports to the Mid-Latitudes and the Role of Atmospheric Steering in the Extreme Precipitation
by Mengqian Lu and Xiaotian Hao
Atmosphere 2017, 8(12), 256; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos8120256 - 19 Dec 2017
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4148
Abstract
Three river basins, i.e., the Yangtze river, the Mississippi river and the Loire river, were presented as case studies to explore the association among atmospheric circulations, moisture exports and extreme precipitations in the mid-latitudes. The major moisture source regions in the tropics for [...] Read more.
Three river basins, i.e., the Yangtze river, the Mississippi river and the Loire river, were presented as case studies to explore the association among atmospheric circulations, moisture exports and extreme precipitations in the mid-latitudes. The major moisture source regions in the tropics for the three river basins are first identified using the Tropical Moisture Exports (TMEs) dataset. The space-time characteristics of their respective moisture sources are presented. Then, the trajectory curve clustering analysis is applied to the TMEs tracks originating from the identified source regions during each basin’s peak TMEs activity and flood seasons. Our results show that the moisture tracks for each basin can be categorized into 3 or 4 clusters with distinct spatial trajectory features. Our further analysis on these clustered trajectories reveals that the contributions of moisture release from different clusters are associated with their trajectory features and travel speeds. In order to understand the role of associated atmospheric steering, daily composites of the geopotential heights anomalies and the vertical integral of moisture flux anomalies from 7 days ahead to the extreme precipitation days (top 5%) are examined. The evolutions of the atmospheric circulation patterns and the moisture fluxes are both consistent with the TMEs tracks that contribute more moisture releases to the study regions. The findings imply that atmospheric steering plays an important role in the moisture transport and release, especially for the extreme precipitations. We also find that the association between TMEs moisture release and precipitation is nonlinear. The extreme precipitation is associated with high TMEs moisture release for all of the three study regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Vapor in the Atmosphere)
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5720 KiB  
Article
Enhanced MODIS Atmospheric Total Water Vapour Content Trends in Response to Arctic Amplification
by Dunya Alraddawi, Philippe Keckhut, Alain Sarkissian, Olivier Bock, Abdanour Irbah, Slimane Bekki, Chantal Claud and Mustapha Meftah
Atmosphere 2017, 8(12), 241; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos8120241 - 02 Dec 2017
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5147
Abstract
In order to assess the strength of the water vapour feedback within Arctic climate change, 15 years of the total column-integrated density of water vapour (TCWV) from the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) are analysed. Arctic TCWV distribution, trends, and anomalies for the [...] Read more.
In order to assess the strength of the water vapour feedback within Arctic climate change, 15 years of the total column-integrated density of water vapour (TCWV) from the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) are analysed. Arctic TCWV distribution, trends, and anomalies for the 2001–2015 period, broken down into seasons and months, are analysed. Enhanced local spring TCWV trends above the terrestrial Arctic regions are discussed in relation to land snow cover and vegetation changes. Upward TCWV trends above the oceanic areas are discussed in lien with sea ice extent and sea surface temperature changes. Increased winter TCWV (up to 40%) south of the Svalbard archipelago are observed; these trends are probably driven by a local warming and sea ice extent decline. Similarly, the Barents/Kara regions underwent wet trends (up to 40%), also associated with winter/fall local sea ice loss. Positive late summer TCWV trends above the western Greenland and Beaufort seas (about 20%) result from enhanced upper ocean warming and thereby a local coastal decline in ice extent. The Mackenzie and Siberia enhanced TCWV trends (about 25%) during spring are found to be associated with coincident decreased snow cover and increased vegetation, as a result of the earlier melt onset. Results show drier summers in the Eurasia and western Alaska regions, thought to be affected by changes in albedo from changing vegetation. Other TCWV anomalies are also presented and discussed in relation to the dramatic decline in sea ice extent and the exceptional rise in sea surface temperature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Vapor in the Atmosphere)
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5083 KiB  
Article
Moisture Transport Anomalies over the Danube River Basin during Two Drought Events: A Lagrangian Analysis
by Milica Stojanovic, Anita Drumond, Raquel Nieto and Luis Gimeno
Atmosphere 2017, 8(10), 193; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos8100193 - 03 Oct 2017
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5694
Abstract
In this paper, we provide a Lagrangian analysis of the anomalies in the moisture transport during two important drought events (1989/1990 and 2003) configured over the Danube River Basin (DRB) region. Firstly, we identified the drought episodes that occurred over the DRB in [...] Read more.
In this paper, we provide a Lagrangian analysis of the anomalies in the moisture transport during two important drought events (1989/1990 and 2003) configured over the Danube River Basin (DRB) region. Firstly, we identified the drought episodes that occurred over the DRB in the period of 1980–2014 through the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). SPEI was calculated using monthly Climatic Research Unit (CRU) Time-Series (TS) Version 3.23 precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PET) datasets with a spatial resolution of 0.5 degrees. The monthly SPEI-1 index was applied to identify the drought episodes and their respective indicators, including duration, severity, and intensity. Two significant drought events were selected: 1989/1990 (presenting dry conditions during October 1989–March 1990) and 2003 (presenting dry conditions during April 2003–September 2003). These events were associated with the two most severe SPEI-1 episodes identified over the DRB during 1980–2014. Then, an analysis of anomalies in the moisture transport was conducted in order to verify possible changes in the moisture supply from the climatological sources for the DRB during these episodes. The moisture transport analysis was performed through a Lagrangian approach, which uses the outputs of the FLEXiblePARTicle dispersion model FLEXPART integrated with one of the reanalysis produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF): the ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA)-Interim dataset. The DRB receives moisture from seven different moisture source regions: the North Atlantic Ocean (NATL), North Africa (NAF), the Mediterranean Sea (MED), the Black Sea (BS), the Caspian Sea (CS), the DRB, and Central and Eastern Europe (Rest of Land (RestL)). The analysis of drought events shows that the precipitation and moisture supply from the selected sources weakened mainly during both drought events. Anomalous subsidence and an increased PET also prevailed over the DRB during these SPEI-1 episodes. RestL and MED registered the most intensive reduction in the moisture supply over the DRB during both periods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Vapor in the Atmosphere)
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5729 KiB  
Article
An Advanced Radiative Transfer and Neural Network Scheme and Evaluation for Estimating Water Vapor Content from MODIS Data
by Kebiao Mao, Xinyi Shen, Zhiyuan Zuo, Ying Ma, Guang Liu and Huajun Tang
Atmosphere 2017, 8(8), 139; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos8080139 - 29 Jul 2017
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3319
Abstract
This work made an improvement upon and a further evaluation of previous work for estimating water vapor content from near-infrared around 1 μm from MODIS data. The accuracy of RM-NN is determined by the complicated relationship of the geophysical parameters. An advanced scheme [...] Read more.
This work made an improvement upon and a further evaluation of previous work for estimating water vapor content from near-infrared around 1 μm from MODIS data. The accuracy of RM-NN is determined by the complicated relationship of the geophysical parameters. An advanced scheme is proposed for building different training databases for different seasons in different regions to reduce the complexity. The training database includes three parts. The first part is a simulation database by MODTRAN for different weather conditions, which is made as a basic database; the second part is reliable field measurement data in observation stations; and the third part is the MYD05_L2 product on clear days, which is produced by the standard product algorithm for water vapor content. The comparative analyses based on simulation data indicate that maximum accuracy of single condition could be improved by about 34% relative to the “all conditions” results. Two study regions in China and America are selected as test areas, and the evaluation shows that the mean and the standard deviation of estimation error are about 0.08 g cm−2 and 0.09 g cm−2, respectively. All the analysis indicates that the advanced scheme can improve the retrieval accuracy of water vapor content, which can make full use of the advantages of previous methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Vapor in the Atmosphere)
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