Global total precipitable water variations  and trends over the period 1958–2021

Wan, Nenghan; Lin, Xiaomao; Pielke Sr., Roger A.; Zeng, Xubin; Nelson, Amanda M.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2123-2024

Articles | Volume 28, issue 9

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2123-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2123-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 28, issue 9

Research article

|

15 May 2024

Research article |

| 15 May 2024

Global total precipitable water variations and trends over the period 1958–2021

Nenghan Wan, Xiaomao Lin, Roger A. Pielke Sr., Xubin Zeng, and Amanda M. Nelson

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2123-2024-supplement

Data sets

ERA5 monthly averaged data on pressure levels from 1940 to present H. Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.6860a573

Updated monthly. JRA-55: Japanese 55-year Reanalysis, Daily 3-Hourly and 6-Hourly Data Japan Meteorological Agency https://doi.org/10.5065/D6HH6H41

AIRS/Aqua L3 Daily Standard Physical Retrieval (AIRS-only) 1 degree x 1 degree V006 AIRS Science Team and Joao Teixeira https://doi.org/10.5067/Aqua/AIRS/DATA303

emote sensing systems DMSP [SSM/I or SSMIS][Daily, 3-Day, Weekly, Monthly] environmental suite on 0.25o grid, Version 7 F. J. Wentz et al. https://www.remss.com/missions/ssmi

Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA), Version 2 I. Durre et al. https://doi.org/10.7289/V5X63K0Q

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Short summary

Global warming occurs at a rate of 0.21 K per decade, resulting in about 9.5 % K⁻¹ of water vapor response to temperature from 1993 to 2021. Terrestrial areas experienced greater warming than the ocean, with a ratio of 2 : 1. The total precipitable water change in response to surface temperature changes showed a variation around 6 % K⁻¹–8 % K⁻¹ in the 15–55^° N latitude band. Further studies are needed to identify the mechanisms leading to different water vapor responses.