Streamfunction Analysis of Interannual Variability in Large-Scale Water Vapor Flux

Abstract

Maps of the streamfunction field for the vertically integrated flux of water vapor over the Northern Hemisphere are presented for each of six annual periods. This approach reveals the existence of a broad-scale cellular pattern in the flow that is not so readily apparent from the more conventional analyses of its zonal and meridional components. In addition, changes in the moisture flow from one year to the next are clearly pictured, a particular good example of which is provided by the behavior of the streamfunction over the Pacific during the period considered.