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Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-612
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-612
17 Aug 2022
 | 17 Aug 2022

Local moisture recycling across the globe

Jolanda Theeuwen, Arie Staal, Obbe Tuinenburg, Bert Hamelers, and Stefan Dekker

Abstract. Changes in evaporation over land affect terrestrial precipitation via atmospheric moisture recycling and consequently freshwater availability. Although global moisture recycling at regional and continental scales are relatively well understood, the patterns and drivers of local moisture recycling remain unknown. For the first time, we calculate the local moisture recycling ratio (LMR), defined as the fraction of evaporated moisture that rains out within approximately 50 km from its source, and identify its drivers over land globally. We derive seasonal and annual LMR from multi-year (2008–2017) monthly averaged atmospheric moisture connections at a scale of 0.5° obtained from a Lagrangian atmospheric moisture tracking model. We find that, annually, on average 1.6 % of evaporated moisture returns as rainfall locally, but with large temporal and spatial variability, where LMR peaks in summer and over wet and mountainous regions. We identify wetness, orography, latitude, and convective available potential energy as drivers of LMR, indicating a crucial role for convection. Our results can be used to study impacts of evaporation changes on local precipitation, with widespread implications for, for example, regreening and water management.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

04 Apr 2023
Local moisture recycling across the globe
Jolanda J. E. Theeuwen, Arie Staal, Obbe A. Tuinenburg, Bert V. M. Hamelers, and Stefan C. Dekker
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 1457–1476, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1457-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1457-2023, 2023
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Short summary
Evaporation changes over land affect rainfall over land through moisture recycling. We...
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