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A Satellite View of Global Water and Energy Cycling Paul R. Houser, George Mason University

A Satellite View of Global Water and Energy Cycling Paul R. Houser, George Mason University. Outline Global Water Cycle Satellite Water Cycle Observations Water Cycle Mission. phouser@gmu.edu. The Water and Energy Cycle.

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A Satellite View of Global Water and Energy Cycling Paul R. Houser, George Mason University

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  1. A Satellite View of Global Water and Energy CyclingPaul R. Houser, George Mason University Outline Global Water Cycle Satellite Water Cycle Observations Water Cycle Mission phouser@gmu.edu

  2. The Water and Energy Cycle Water in the climate system functions on all time scales: From hours to centuries • Role of the Water & Energy Cycle • in the Climate System: • Water exists in all three phases in the climate system; its phase transitions regulate global and regional energy balances • Water vapor in the atmosphere is the principal greenhouse gas; clouds represent both positive and negative feedbacks in climate system response • Water is the ultimate solvent which mediates the biogeochemical and element cycles • Water directly impacts and constraint human society and its well-being. • The Energy and Water Cycle is tightly intertwined • Solar radiation drives and feedbacks with the water cycle • Energy is transferred through water movement and phase change

  3. Land Precipitation is changing significantly over broad areas Smoothed annual anomalies for precipitation (%) over land from 1900 to 2005; other regions are dominated by variability.

  4. Multi-model ensemble mean change from IPCC GCMs Change in (P-E) for 2100 minus 2000 “Dry regions get drier, wet regions get wetter” Held and Soden (2006) “Thermodynamic” component D(P-E) mm/day Vecchi and Soden (2007)

  5. State of the Water and Energy Cycle Water & Energy Balance

  6. Data and Methods Extended Analyses (of Schlosser and Houser, J. Climate, 2007) Atmospheric Budget: Terrestrial Budget:

  7. Global Results: 1988-2001 • HOAPS (still) shows trend and Pinatubo plunge. • • GPCP/CMAP(r): The good, the bad, and the “split” • • Latter half of period, fluxes converging, really? • • Trend detection - need long monotic trend to verify GCMs (for low-risk detection).

  8. “Global” (50S-50N) Annual Timeseries of Legacy and Next-Generation Precipitation Not much consistency seen between legacy and next-generation estimates at the global scale... for now.

  9. Comparison of Global Evaporation Fluxes to Previous Estimates • Global fluxes of precipitation and evaporation are comparable to previous century of estimates. • No discernable trend is seen in both compilations of the flux estimates. • The notable disparity with this study is the lower values of both precipitation (not shown) and evaporation flux estimates over land.

  10. Water Cycle Prediction Components • Observation: Quantify long-term water cycle trends & variability; progress toward a coordinated water cycle observation system; extract knowledge and understanding from diverse observations. • Modeling:Diagnose state-of-the-art “operational” Earth system models; conduct sensitivity and predictability experiments; infuse process-scale understanding to predict water cycle extremes, enhance prediction through observational constraints; explore limits of water cycle predictability • Solutions: Enhance operational decision support tools; Engage in public and research community education; link to other earth system components

  11. Water Cycle Remote Sensing • Types of Microwave Sensors: • 1. Microwave radiometers: Emission • 2. Non-imaging RADARs • Altimeters – measure elevation • Scatterometers –microwave backscatter • 3. Imaging RADARs • Synthetic Aperture Radars – map variations in microwave backscatter The “A-Train” AMSR-E radiometer (6-89 GHz) AMSU-A (15 channels 15-90 GHz) HSB profiler (150, 183 GHz) CloudSat Radar (94-GHz) TRMM TMI radiometer (10.7-85.5 GHz) GPM (future) TRMM-PR (radar at 13.6 and 35 GHz) Aquarius/SMAP (1.413GHz A/P). SMOS (1.4GHz radiometer)

  12. Global Water and Energy Cycle: Observation Strategy Future:Water Cycle Mission Observation of water molecules through the atmosphere and land surface using an active/passive hyper spectral microwave instrument. ICEsat Aquarius Jason NPOESS SMOS SMAP SWOT DMSP Hydro Altimetry Etc. Need a strategy to compare and integrate and make sense of existing observations Primary missing global observations: Precipitation, Soil Moisture, Snow

  13. Water Cycle Mission: Options?

  14. Water Cycle Mission: Demonstration? Challenge: progress from single-variable water-cycle instruments to multivariable integrated instruments. Vision: dedicated high-resolution water-cycle microwave-based satellite mission may be possible based on large-aperture antenna technology that can harvest the synergy that would be afforded by simultaneous multichannel active and passive microwave measurements. Demonstration: A partial demonstration of these ideas can be realized with existing microwave satellite observations to support advanced multivariate retrieval methods that can exploit the totality of the microwave spectral information. Impact: Simultaneous multichannel active and passive microwave retrieval would allow improved-accuracy retrievals that are not possible with isolated measurements.

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