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Amazonian terrestrial water balance inferred from satellite-observed water vapor isotopes

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [6];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [7];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [8]
  1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  2. California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Jet Propulsion Lab. (JPL)
  3. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)
  4. Univ. of Auckland (New Zealand)
  5. Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique, Paris (France)
  6. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  7. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Jet Propulsion Lab. (JPL)
  8. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Chapman Univ., Orange, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Atmospheric humidity and soil moisture in the Amazon forest are tightly coupled to the region’s water balance, or the difference between two moisture fluxes, evapotranspiration minus precipitation (ET-P). However, large and poorly characterized uncertainties in both fluxes, and in their difference, make it challenging to evaluate spatiotemporal variations of water balance and its dependence on ET or P. Here, we show that satellite observations of the HDO/H2O ratio of water vapor are sensitive to spatiotemporal variations of ET-P over the Amazon. When calibrated by basin-scale and mass-balance estimates of ET-P derived from terrestrial water storage and river discharge measurements, the isotopic data demonstrate that rainfall controls wet Amazon water balance variability, but ET becomes important in regulating water balance and its variability in the dry Amazon. Changes in the drivers of ET, such as above ground biomass, could therefore have a larger impact on soil moisture and humidity in the dry (southern and eastern) Amazon relative to the wet Amazon.
Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1868183
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-160254
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 13; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
atmospheric chemistry
hydrology