Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2808
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2808
29 Nov 2023
 | 29 Nov 2023

Evaluation of Total Column Water Vapour Products from Satellite Observations and Reanalyses within the GEWEX Water Vapor Assessment

Tim Trent, Marc Schroeder, Shu-Peng Ho, Steffen Beirle, Ralf Bennartz, Eva Borbas, Christian Borger, Helene Brogniez, Xavier Calbet, Elisa Castelli, Gilbert P. Compo, Wesley Ebisuzaki, Ulrike Falk, Frank Fell, John Forsythe, Hans Hersbach, Misako Kachi, Shinya Kobayashi, Robert E. Kursinsk, Diego Loyola, Zhengzao Luo, Johannes K. Nielsen, Enzo Papandrea, Laurence Picon, Rene Preusker, Anthony Reale, Lei Shi, Laura Slivinski, Joao Teixeira, Tom Vonder Haar, and Thomas Wagner

Abstract. Since 2011 the Global Energy and Water cycle Exchanges (GEWEX) Water Vapor Assessment (G-VAP) has provided performance analyses for state-of-the-art reanalysis and satellite water vapour products to the GEWEX Data and Analysis Panel (GDAP) and the user community in general. A significant component of the work undertaken by G-VAP is to characterise the quality and uncertainty of these water vapour records to; i) ensure full exploitation and ii) avoid incorrect use or interpretation of results. This study presents results from the second phase of G-VAP, where we have extended and expanded our analysis of Total Column Water Vapour (TCWV) from phase 1, in conjunction with updating the G-VAP archive. For version 2 of the archive, we consider 28 freely available and mature satellite and reanalysis data products, remapped to a regular longitude-latitude grid of 2°× 2°, and on monthly time steps between January 1979 and December 2019. We first analysed all records for a 'common' short period of five years (2005–2009), focusing on variability (spatial & seasonal) and deviation from the ensemble mean. We observed that clear-sky daytime-only satellite products were generally drier than the ensemble mean, and seasonal variability/disparity in several regions up to 12 kg/m2 related to original spatial resolution and temporal sampling. For 11 of the 28 data records, further analysis was undertaken between 1988–2014. Within this 'long period', key results show i) trends between -1.18±0.68 to 3.82±3.94 kg/m2/decade and -0.39±0.27 to 1.24±0.85 kg/m2/decade were found over ice-free global oceans and land surfaces respectively, and ii) regression coefficients of TWCV against surface temperatures of 6.17±0.24 to 27.02±0.51 %/K over oceans (using sea surface temperature) and 3.00±0.17 to 7.77±0.16 %/K over land (using surface air temperature). It is important to note that trends estimated within G-VAP are used to identify issues in the data records rather than analyse climate change. Additionally, breakpoints have been identified and characterised for both land and ocean surfaces within this period. Finally, we present a spatial analysis of correlations to six climate indices within the “long period”, highlighting regional areas of significant positive and negative correlation and the level of agreement among records.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

30 Aug 2024
Evaluation of total column water vapour products from satellite observations and reanalyses within the GEWEX Water Vapor Assessment
Tim Trent, Marc Schröder, Shu-Peng Ho, Steffen Beirle, Ralf Bennartz, Eva Borbas, Christian Borger, Helene Brogniez, Xavier Calbet, Elisa Castelli, Gilbert P. Compo, Wesley Ebisuzaki, Ulrike Falk, Frank Fell, John Forsythe, Hans Hersbach, Misako Kachi, Shinya Kobayashi, Robert E. Kursinski, Diego Loyola, Zhengzao Luo, Johannes K. Nielsen, Enzo Papandrea, Laurence Picon, Rene Preusker, Anthony Reale, Lei Shi, Laura Slivinski, Joao Teixeira, Tom Vonder Haar, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9667–9695, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9667-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9667-2024, 2024
Short summary
Tim Trent, Marc Schroeder, Shu-Peng Ho, Steffen Beirle, Ralf Bennartz, Eva Borbas, Christian Borger, Helene Brogniez, Xavier Calbet, Elisa Castelli, Gilbert P. Compo, Wesley Ebisuzaki, Ulrike Falk, Frank Fell, John Forsythe, Hans Hersbach, Misako Kachi, Shinya Kobayashi, Robert E. Kursinsk, Diego Loyola, Zhengzao Luo, Johannes K. Nielsen, Enzo Papandrea, Laurence Picon, Rene Preusker, Anthony Reale, Lei Shi, Laura Slivinski, Joao Teixeira, Tom Vonder Haar, and Thomas Wagner

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • CC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2808', Richard Allan, 09 Feb 2024
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2808', Eric Fetzer, 20 Feb 2024
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2808', Anonymous Referee #2, 26 Feb 2024

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • CC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2808', Richard Allan, 09 Feb 2024
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2808', Eric Fetzer, 20 Feb 2024
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2808', Anonymous Referee #2, 26 Feb 2024

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
AR by Tim Trent on behalf of the Authors (26 Apr 2024)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (02 May 2024) by Matthew Lebsock
AR by Tim Trent on behalf of the Authors (08 May 2024)  Manuscript 

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

30 Aug 2024
Evaluation of total column water vapour products from satellite observations and reanalyses within the GEWEX Water Vapor Assessment
Tim Trent, Marc Schröder, Shu-Peng Ho, Steffen Beirle, Ralf Bennartz, Eva Borbas, Christian Borger, Helene Brogniez, Xavier Calbet, Elisa Castelli, Gilbert P. Compo, Wesley Ebisuzaki, Ulrike Falk, Frank Fell, John Forsythe, Hans Hersbach, Misako Kachi, Shinya Kobayashi, Robert E. Kursinski, Diego Loyola, Zhengzao Luo, Johannes K. Nielsen, Enzo Papandrea, Laurence Picon, Rene Preusker, Anthony Reale, Lei Shi, Laura Slivinski, Joao Teixeira, Tom Vonder Haar, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9667–9695, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9667-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9667-2024, 2024
Short summary
Tim Trent, Marc Schroeder, Shu-Peng Ho, Steffen Beirle, Ralf Bennartz, Eva Borbas, Christian Borger, Helene Brogniez, Xavier Calbet, Elisa Castelli, Gilbert P. Compo, Wesley Ebisuzaki, Ulrike Falk, Frank Fell, John Forsythe, Hans Hersbach, Misako Kachi, Shinya Kobayashi, Robert E. Kursinsk, Diego Loyola, Zhengzao Luo, Johannes K. Nielsen, Enzo Papandrea, Laurence Picon, Rene Preusker, Anthony Reale, Lei Shi, Laura Slivinski, Joao Teixeira, Tom Vonder Haar, and Thomas Wagner
Tim Trent, Marc Schroeder, Shu-Peng Ho, Steffen Beirle, Ralf Bennartz, Eva Borbas, Christian Borger, Helene Brogniez, Xavier Calbet, Elisa Castelli, Gilbert P. Compo, Wesley Ebisuzaki, Ulrike Falk, Frank Fell, John Forsythe, Hans Hersbach, Misako Kachi, Shinya Kobayashi, Robert E. Kursinsk, Diego Loyola, Zhengzao Luo, Johannes K. Nielsen, Enzo Papandrea, Laurence Picon, Rene Preusker, Anthony Reale, Lei Shi, Laura Slivinski, Joao Teixeira, Tom Vonder Haar, and Thomas Wagner

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Short summary
In a warmer future, water vapour will spend more time in the atmosphere changing global rainfall patterns. In this study, we analysed the performance of 28 water vapour records between 1988 & 2014. We find sensitivity to surface warming generally outside expected ranges, attributed to breakpoints in individual record trends & differing representations of climate variability. The implication is that longer records are required for high confidence in assessing climate trends