Variations of the glacio-marine air mass front in West Greenland through water vapor isotopes
Abstract
While the isotopic distribution of precipitation has been widely used for research in hydrology, paleoclimatology, and ecology for decades, intensive isotopic studies of atmospheric water vapor has only recently been made possible by spectral-based technology. New instrumentation based on this technology opens up many opportunities to investigate short-term atmospheric dynamics involving the water cycle and moisture transport. We deployed a Los Gatos Water Vapor Isotope Analyzer (WVIA) at Kangerlussuaq, Greenland from July 21 to August 15, and measured the water vapor concentration and its isotopic ratios continuously at 10s intervals. A Danish Meteorological Institute site is located about 1 km from the site of the deployment, and meteorological data is collected at 30 min intervals. During the observation period, the vapor concentration of the ambient air ranges from 5608.4 to 11189.4 ppm; dD and d18O range from -254.5 to -177.7 ‰ and -34.2 to -23.2 ‰, respectively. The vapor content (dew point) and the isotopic ratios are both strongly controlled by the wind direction. The easterly winds are associated with dry, isotopically depleted air masses formed over the glacier, while westerly winds are associated with moist and isotopically enriched air masses from the marine/fjord surface. This region typically experiences katabatic winds off of the ice sheet to the east. However, during some afternoons, the wind shifts 180 degrees, blowing off the fjord to the west. This wind switch marks the onset of a sea breeze, and significant isotopic enrichment results. Enrichment in deuterium is up to 60 ‰ with a mean of 15‰, and oxygen-18 is enriched by 3‰ on average and up to 8 ‰. Other afternoons have no change in wind, and only small changes in humidity and vapor isotopic ratios. The humidity and isotopic variations suggest the local atmosphere circulation is dominated by relatively high-pressure systems above the cold glaciers and cool sea surface, and diurnal pressure variations above the relatively warmer land surface in between. During the day as the land is heated, the katabatic wind converges with the sea breeze, producing a front normally over the fjord. On the former type of afternoons, when a sea breeze occurs, the front moves eastward off the fjord, crossing the land and the observation sites in Kangerlussuaq; on the latter afternoons the front remains over the fjord, probably moving east but not far enough to reach the land and Kangerlussuaq, and has no effect on the observation site. The data also show that in addition to this local circulation pattern, the area is influenced by synoptic storm systems as well. A low-pressure system passed slowly across the region over the first 9 days of the observation period. The effects are seen as it interferes with the more regular diurnal cycle of the local circulation described above. In addition to this significant part of the cycle, the effects of lake water evaporation and landscape evapotranspiration is seen in the diurnal cycle. This can be seen on days when the wind direction did not shift in the afternoon, but the dew point and isotopic compositions became slightly higher. This is consistent with moisture contribution from lake evaporation, which is expected to be enriched in both oxygen-18 and deuterium compared to the ambient atmospheric water vapor.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFM.A53N0348K
- Keywords:
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- 1041 GEOCHEMISTRY / Stable isotope geochemistry;
- 1655 GLOBAL CHANGE / Water cycles;
- 1843 HYDROLOGY / Land/atmosphere interactions;
- 3322 ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES / Land/atmosphere interactions