Simulation of the isotopic composition of stratospheric water vapour – Part 2: Investigation of HDO/H₂O variations

Abstract

Abstract. Studying the isotopic composition of water vapour in the lower stratosphere can reveal the driving mechanisms of changes in the stratospheric water vapour budget and therefore help to explain the trends and variations of stratospheric water vapour during the recent decades. We equipped a global chemistry climate model with a description of the water isotopologue HDO, comprising its physical and chemical fractionation effects throughout the hydrological cycle. We use this model to improve our understanding of the processes, which determine the patterns in the stratospheric water isotope composition and in the water vapour budget, itself. The link between the water vapour budget and its isotopic composition in the tropical stratosphere is presented through their correlation in a simulated 21 year time series. The two quantities depend on the same processes, however, are influenced with different strengths. A sensitivity experiment shows that fractionation effects during the oxidation of methane has a damping effect on the stratospheric tape recorder signal in the water isotope ratio. Moreover, the chemically produced high water isotope ratios overshadow the tape recorder in the upper stratosphere. Investigating the origin of the boreal summer tape recorder signal in the lower stratosphere reveals isotopically enriched water vapour crossing the tropopause over the subtropical Western Pacific. A correlation analysis confirms this link, which identifies the Asian Summer Monsoon as the major contributor for the intrusion of isotopically enriched water vapour into the stratosphere during boreal summer. Furthermore, convective ice lofting is shown to have a substantial impact on the isotope ratios of water vapour in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.