Climate reanalysis reveals rising precipitable water and surface pressure across the globe, indicating single polar-orbiting satellites can reliably track key warming trends.
Two total precipitable water (TPW) monthly time series derived from hourly analyses and from 1:30 am and 1:30 pm (local time) analyses, respectively, from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis model version 5 (ERA5) data are practically identical. The TPW is increasing as surface and lower tropospheric temperatures are warming. Surface pressure is rising as well because of increased mass from atmospheric carbon dioxide and TPW above the surface. The close similarity of trends using hourly and twice-daily analyses suggest that using well-calibrated observations from a single sun-synchronous polar orbiting satellite, such as Suomi-NPP Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder measurements, can be sufficient to characterize global trends in climate-sensitive surface temperatures and TPW.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Liu et al. (2024) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: