The Mass of the Atmosphere: A Constraint on Global Analyses

Abstract The total mass of the atmosphere varies mainly from changes in water vapor loading; the former is proportional to global mean surface pressure and the water vapor component is computed directly from specific humidity and precipitable water using the 40-yr European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analyses (ERA-40). Their difference, the mass of the dry atmosphere, is estimated to be constant for the equivalent surface pressure to within 0.01 hPa based on changes in atmospheric composition. Global reanalyses satisfy this constraint for monthly means for 1979–2001 with a standard deviation of 0.065 hPa. New estimates of the total mass of the atmosphere and its dry component, and their corresponding surface pressures, are larger than previous estimates owing to new topography of the earth’s surface that is 5.5 m lower for the global mean. Global mean total surface pressure is 985.50 hPa, 0.9 hPa higher than previous best estimates. The total mean mass of the atmosphere is 5.1480 ...

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