Mandagskollokvium - Taking the pulse of the atmospheric water cycle at high, mid and low latitudes

Harald Sodemann, Norwegian Institute for Air Research:

Taking the pulse of the atmospheric water cycle at high, mid and low latitudes.

ABSTRACT

Many records of past climate variability, such as ice cores or cave sediments, are intimately coupled to the atmospheric water cycle. These palaeo-archives reflect climate variation related to temperature, precipitation, or both, depending on the prevailing meteorology. Detailed understanding of the present-day processes that govern the preservation of signals in palaeo-archives can help to provide a clearer picture of the past, and better constraints for climate predictions. We applied a Lagrangian water source and transport diagnostic to study the present-day hydrological cycle at different latitude sites, including Greenland, Antarctica, the European Alps, and Borneo. The information derived from these modelling efforts are compared to stable isotope observations from ice cores, precipitation, and cave sediments from the same areas. Results point out the leading role of seasonal variation in causing hydrological change.