Tracking the transport of seawater and water vapor into, within, and out of the Arctic.
About My Research
We have been using Picarro water vapor isotope analysers to measure, in real time, continuously the 18O, 2H and calculated d-excess values throughout the Arctic as part of the Arctic Water Isotope Network (AWIN). These measurements have been used to track the transport of water vapor into, within and out of the Arctic. And, we have been using these Picarro measurements to delineate the role of sea ice coverage over the Arctic Ocean as it effects the water vapor isotope properties as sea water evaporates into the Arctic's atmosphere and delivers a unique finger print.
How Picarro Analyzers Helped
We have been using Picarro's to analyse precipitation samples across all of the contiguous US as part of USNIP (US Network for Isotopes in Precipitation) and as part of PAPIN (Pan Arctic Precipitation Isotope Network) allowing us to: 1) quantify how climate oscillations interact to drive precipitation geochemistry across the US over a 25 year period: 2) characterise the moisture sources of precipitation at land station throughout the Arctic; 3) we have simultaneously coupled water vapor and seawater isotope measurements from the Healy and the Sikuliaq icebreakers across the western and central Arctic Ocean including through the NW Passage and throughout Baffin Bay. Similar co-water vapor and seawater isotope measurements will take place above 80oN off the NE coast of Greenland aboard the RV Oden in spring of 2023.