Ocean air masses dominate the land-surface atmospheric water cycles in
the coastal areas of Liaodong Bay: Insights from stable isotopes
Abstract
Long-term atmospheric water vapor hydrogen (δ2H), oxygen (δ18O), and
deuterium excess (d-excess) can provide unique insights into the
land-atmosphere coupling processes. The in-situ measurements of
atmospheric water vapor δ2H, δ18O, and d-excess were conducted above a
reed wetland of Liaodong Bay (2019-2020). We found significant
inter-annual variations in atmospheric water vapor isotopes between the
two growing (May-September) seasons. The δ2H, δ18O, and d-excess of
atmospheric water vapor exhibited different seasonal and diurnal cycles
respect to the vertical (i.e., 1 m, 3 m, and 5 m) measurement heights,
especially in 2019. The isotopic differences of atmospheric water vapor
among vertical measurement heights were more evident in the daytime
(8:00-20:00 LST) than at night (20:00-8:00 LST). Rainfall events had a
direct impact on the diurnal patterns of water vapor isotopes, and the
influences depended on rainfall intensities. However, only week
correlations existed between water vapor isotopes and local
meteorological factors (R2 = 0.01-0.16, P < 0.001), such as
water vapor concentration (w), relative humidity (RH), and surface air
temperature (Ta). Based on the back-air trajectory analyses, the
spatial-temporal dynamics of atmospheric water vapor isotopes highly
synchronized with monsoon activities. The dominant air masses in this
region mainly arose from ocean sources, which contributed to 62.1 ±
12.2% (49.4-84.5%) of the total air moisture. High d-excess
consistently followed the strong monsoon activities, suggesting
predominating impacts of ocean air masses from the East Asian monsoon
region. High-resolution measurements of atmospheric water vapor isotopes
will improve our understanding of the hydrological cycles in coastal
areas.