Water Isotopes Found to Leave Fingerprints for Climate Scientists

 Researchers study water vapor to learn more about the water cycle and impacts of climate change

University of Colorado meteorologist David Noone and his team are working to understand how water moves around the planet. A photo taken on a clear day, April 6, 2013, from the top of the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory.: Photograph by Aleya KaushikWith support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the project team observes and analyzes the stable isotope composition of water vapor and precipitation, primarily at the 300-meter (984-foot) Boulder Atmospheric Observatory tower.

The measurements are made using an optical measurement technology which has only recently become available, and which allows continuous in situ observations to be made on a practical basis. The ratio of heavier to lighter isotopes in water vapor contains information including the source region for the water vapor that falls as rain, which can be used to determine the extent to which rainwater comes directly from the ocean or from evaporation and plant transpiration over land.

Researchers know that concentrations of aerosols like black carbon and gases like carbon dioxide, water vapor, ozone and nitrous: oxide vary across the globe and by season. Until recently, a fine-grained picture of the concentrations and understanding of the dynamics of these atmospheric components did not exist. Researchers across the globe launched the five-phase HIPPO (HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observation) project to provide this perspective; it has generated the first detailed mapping--both vertically and across latitudes--of the global distribution of greenhouse gases, black carbon and related chemical species in the atmosphere. Scientists expect that this detailed view will allow them to more realistically approximate the global atmosphere's chemical distribution and improve understanding of how the land, ocean and atmosphere interact. Learn more in this Discovery. Credit: Animations courtesy of R. Bradley Pierce, NOAA/NESDIS/STAR

"David's work shows that isotopic composition can tell us a great deal about the sources and pathways of the rainwater that's so critical for us and our environment," says Eric DeWeaver, a program director in the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Division of the Directorate for Geosciences. "This is exciting research and it's also a great example of participatory science, in which middle school students can make an important contribution to the research while at the same time learning about the hydrological cycle."

This news is from the National Science Foundation, June 24, 2013, posted on the Horizon International Solutions Site on July 11, 2013. By

Miles O'Brien, Science Nation Correspondent
Marsha Walton, Science Nation Producer

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Related Links:

Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS)

The Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS) of the Directorate for Geosciences, supports research to add new understanding of the behavior of the Earth's atmosphere and its interactions with the sun.

Distribution of Water Vapor in Atmosphere

The image available here captures the distribution of water vapor in the atmosphere at one moment in time during a climate simulation by the National Center for Atmospheric Research-based Community Climate System Model. Climate models rely on supercomputers to simulate the complexities of past, present or future climate.