Radiosonde-Based Northern Hemisphere Tropospheric Water Vapor Trends

Abstract Trends in tropospheric water vapor at Northern Hemisphere radiosonde stations are presented for two periods;1973–95 and 1958–95. Stations with incomplete or inhomogeneous temporal records were identified and excluded from the analysis. For the 1973–95 period, trends in surface–500-mb precipitable water and in specific humidity, dewpoint, and temperature at the 850-mb level are shown. At most stations in this analysis, precipitable water, specific humidity, and dewpoint temperature have increased along with temperature over the period. An exception is Europe, over which temperature increased but humidity slightly decreased. Water vapor increases are larger, more uniform, and more significant over North America than over Eurasia, and the differences in trend magnitude and sign between the two regions may be attributable to changes in the late 1970s that affected North America more than Eurasia. Seasonal and annual correlations of surface–500-mb precipitable water with temperature, dewpoint temperat...

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