Properties of air mass mixing and humidity in the subtropics from measurements of the D/H isotope ratio of water vapor at the Mauna Loa Observatory

Abstract

Water vapor in the subtropical troposphere plays an important role in the radiative balance, the distribution of precipitation, and the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere. Measurements of the water vapor mixing ratio paired with stable isotope ratios provide unique information on transport processes and moisture sources that is not available with mixing ratio data alone. Measurements of the D/H isotope ratio of water vapor from Mauna Loa Observatory over 4 weeks in October-November 2008 were used to identify components of the regional hydrological cycle. A mixing model exploits the isotope information to identify water fluxes from time series data. Mixing is associated with exchange between marine boundary layer air and tropospheric air on diurnal time scales and between different tropospheric air masses with characteristics that evolve on the synoptic time scale. Diurnal variations are associated with upslope flow and the transition from nighttime air above the marine trade inversion to marine boundary layer air during daytime. During easterly trade wind conditions, growth and decay of the boundary layer are largely conservative in a regional context but contribute ∼12% of the nighttime water vapor at Mauna Loa. Tropospheric moisture is associated with convective outflow and exchange with drier air originating from higher latitude or higher altitude. During the passage of a moist filament, boundary layer exchange is enhanced. Isotopic data reflect the combination of processes that control the water balance, which highlights the utility for baseline measurements of water vapor isotopologues in monitoring the response of the hydrological cycle to climate change. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.