Continuous measurements of atmospheric water vapour isotopes in western Siberia (Kourovka)

oleh: V. Bastrikov, H. C. Steen-Larsen, V. Masson-Delmotte, K. Gribanov, O. Cattani, J. Jouzel, V. Zakharov

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Copernicus Publications 2014-06-01

Deskripsi

The isotopic composition of atmospheric water vapour at the land surface has been continuously monitored at the Kourovka astronomical observatory in western Siberia (57.037° N, 59.547° E; 300 m a.s.l.) since April 2012. These measurements provide the first record of δD, δ<sup>18</sup>O and d-excess in this region. Air was sampled at 8 m height within a forest clearing. Measurements were made with a wavelength-scanned cavity ring-down spectroscopy analyzer (Picarro L2130-i). Specific improvements of the measurement system and calibration protocol have been made to ensure reliable measurements at low humidity during winter. The isotopic measurements conducted till August 2013 exhibit a clear seasonal cycle with maximum δD and δ<sup>18</sup>O values in summer and minimum values in winter. In addition, considerable synoptic timescale variability of isotopic composition was observed with typical variations of 50–100&permil; for δD, 10–15&permil; for δ<sup>18</sup>O and 2–8&permil; for d-excess. The strong correlations between δD and local meteorological parameters (logarithm of humidity and temperature) are explored, with a lack of dependency in summer that points to the importance of continental recycling and local evapotranspiration. The overall correlation between δD and temperature is associated with a slope of 3&permil; °C<sup>−1</sup>. Large d-excess diurnal variability was observed during summer with up to 30&permil; decrease during the night and the minima manifested shortly after sunrise. Two dominant diurnal cycle patterns for d-excess differing by the magnitude of the d-excess decrease (21&permil; and 7&permil;) and associated patterns for meteorological observations have been determined. The total uncertainty of the isotopic measurements was quantified as 1.4–11.2&permil; for δD, 0.23–1.84&permil; for δ<sup>18</sup>O and 2.3–18.5&permil; for d-excess depending on the humidity.