Derived Over-Ocean Water Vapor Transports from Satellite-Retrieved E − P Datasets

Abstract

A methodology is developed for deriving atmospheric water vapor transports over the World Oceans from satellite-retrieved precipitation (P) and evaporation (E) datasets. The motivation for developing the method is to understand climatically varying properties of transports, that is, year-to-year changes of the seasonally averaged divergent transport distribution fields, over regions where conventional data, in particular, winds, are sparse. Ultimately, the method is intended to take advantage of the relatively complete and consistent coverage, as well as continuity in sampling, associated with E ? P datasets obtained from satellite measurements. Separate P and E retrievals from Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) measurements, along with P retrievals from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) measurements, are used to obtain the transport solutions. In this opening study, a 7-yr climatological normal is derived for the January?February?March (JFM) period for years 1988?94, providing the basis for comparing vapor transport anomalies from the 1997/98 El Niño and 1999/2000 La Niña events. These are derived from JFM-averaged transport solutions for 1998 and 1999, respectively. These two periods correspond to times when the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) provided by the NOAA Climatic Data Center (CDC) was first at a relative maximum and then at a relative minimum in conjunction with back-to-back west Pacific warm and cold events. Because the El Niño?La Niña events produce such highly contrasting behavior in the transports, shifting from a largely meridionally oriented solution to a largely zonally oriented solution, focusing on this pairing, helps to explain why the methodology is reliable and effective in capturing important details embedded in full-coverage E ? P fields. The analysis includes a sensitivity study of the transport solution technique based on 20 combinations of four precipitation datasets (two satellite based and two model based) and five evaporation datasets (two satellite based, one in situ observation based, and two model based), which helps to explain the reliability of the method. The analysis also includes a comparison to water vapor transports derived with the same method, but applied to E ? P datasets obtained from global analysis products prepared by the National Centers of Environmental Prediction (NCEP), again to help explain the reliability of the method. The study concludes by first showing how the anomaly JFM 1998 El Niño solution behaves in close correspondence to associated SST anomalies and is generally more realistic in comparison to the corresponding NCEP solution. Finally, its reliability is discussed in terms of the implications of the vapor transport features for the El Niño?La Niña transition, vis-à-vis north?south and east?west circulations and their accompanying impact on the atmospheric hydrological cycle.