Atmospheric Water Vapor Divergence and the Water Balance at the Earth's Surface
Author: Daniel H. Lufkin
Publisher:
Published: 1959
Total Pages: 56
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAfter reviewing the nature and derivation of the northern hemisphere water vapor divergence data published by Starr and Peixoto (1958), the author presents a new and more detailed analysis of the divergence field. The relation between the atmospheric moisture divergence and the terrestrial branch of the hydrologic cycle is examined in the light of the geology and physiography of many regions which are associated with marked moisture divergence maxima and minima. The relation between the moisture divergence over the seas and the water budget of the sea surface is considered in a new treatment of the empirically derived correlation between salinity and moisture divergence, resulting in a new formula for the zonal mean salinity as a function of the zonal mean divergence. The latitudinal variation of the landward transport of oceanic moisture is calculated and is the first estimate ever made of this quantity. Finally, the implications of the latent heat transported by moisture are discussed in relation to the formulation of numerical models of the general circulation.