Atmospheric Moisture Transports from Ocean to Land and Global Energy Flows in Reanalyses

Abstract An assessment is made of the global energy and hydrological cycles from eight current atmospheric reanalyses and their depiction of changes over time. A brief evaluation of the water and energy cycles in the latest version of the NCAR climate model referred to as CCSM4 is also given. The focus is on the mean ocean, land, and global precipitation P; the corresponding evaporation E; their difference corresponding to the surface freshwater flux E–P; and the vertically integrated atmospheric moisture transports. Using the model-based P and E, the time- and area-average E–P for the oceans, P–E for land, and the moisture transport from ocean to land should all be identical but are not close in most…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  Award: NNX09AH89G
• NC
  National Center for Atmospheric Research
• NO
  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration