How Rossby wave breaking modulates the water  cycle in the North Atlantic trade wind region

Aemisegger, Franziska; Vogel, Raphaela; Graf, Pascal; Dahinden, Fabienne; Villiger, Leonie; Jansen, Friedhelm; Bony, Sandrine; Stevens, Bjorn; Wernli, Heini

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-281-2021

Articles | Volume 2, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-281-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-281-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 2, issue 1

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

29 Mar 2021

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 29 Mar 2021

How Rossby wave breaking modulates the water cycle in the North Atlantic trade wind region

Franziska Aemisegger, Raphaela Vogel, Pascal Graf, Fabienne Dahinden, Leonie Villiger, Friedhelm Jansen, Sandrine Bony, Bjorn Stevens, and Heini Wernli

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-281-2021-supplement

Data sets

IsoTrades campaign dataset: Hourly laser spectroscopic stable water vapour isotope measurements from 23 January to 18 Feburary 2018 at the Barbados Cloud Observatory F. Aemisegger and P. Graf https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000439434

Short summary

The interaction of clouds in the trade wind region with the atmospheric flow is complex and at the heart of uncertainties associated with climate projections. In this study, a natural tracer of atmospheric circulation is used to establish a link between air originating from dry regions of the midlatitudes and the occurrence of specific cloud patterns. Two pathways involving transport within midlatitude weather systems are identified, by which air is brought into the trades within 5–10 d.