edu.ucar.opensky::articles:21994 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-25T15:53:39.726671 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7bp05p5 https://doi.org/10.5067/AURA/TES/TL2HDOLN_L2.006 https Related Dataset #1 TES/Aura L2 HDO Lite Nadir - Version 6 Tracking the strength of the Walker circulation with stable isotopes in water vapor 2018-07-27T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7bp05p5 https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JD027915 Dee, S. G. author Nusbaumer, J. author Bailey, Adriana author Russell, J. M. author Lee, J. author Konecky, B. author Buenning, N. H. author Noone, D. C. author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher General circulation models (GCMs) predict that the global hydrological cycle will change in response to anthropogenic warming. However, these predictions remain uncertain, in particular, for precipitation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2013, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004). Held and Soden (2006, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI3990.1) suggest that as lower tropospheric water vapor concentration increases in a warming climate, the atmospheric circulation and convective mass fluxes will weaken. Unfortunately, this process is difficult to constrain, as convective mass fluxes are poorly observed and incompletely simulated in GCMs. Here we demonstrate that stable hydrogen isotope ratios in tropical atmospheric water vapor can trace changes in temperature, atmospheric circulation, and convective mass flux in a warming world. We evaluate changes in temperature, the distribution of water vapor, vertical velocity (ω), advection, and water isotopes in vapor (δDV). Using water isotope-enabled GCM experiments for modern versus high-CO2 atmospheres, we identify spatial patterns of circulation change over the tropical Pacific. We find that slowing circulation in the tropical Pacific moistens the lower troposphere and weakens convective mass flux, both of which impact the δD of water vapor in the midtroposphere. Our findings constitute a critical demonstration of how water isotope ratios in the tropical Pacific respond to changes in radiative forcing and atmospheric warming. Moreover, as changes in δDV can be observed by satellites, our results develop new metrics for the detection of global warming impacts to the hydrological cycle and, specifically, the strength of the Walker circulation. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright 2018 American Geophysical Union. None eng geoscientificInformation