ATMOSPHERIC WATER-VAPOR TRANSPORT AND CONTINENTAL HYDROLOGY OVER THE AMERICA

The advective transport of atmospheric water vapor, its role in global hydrology, and the water balance of continental regions are discussed and explored. A data set consisting of 10 years of global wind and hu midity observations that has been interpolated onto a regular grid is used to estimate atmospheric water vapor fluxes across the boundaries of selected continental regions. The flux of water vapor from the wate rs surrounding the Americas is computed and graphically represented as integrated normal flux across meridional and zonal segments. The tota l flux is decomposed into transport by mean motion and transport by co rrelated transient anomalies in the wind and humidity fields. Seasonal maps of these observations for the Americas reveal the underlying mec hanisms and illustrate the characterizing features of the hydrologic c ycle and continental water balance for this large land mass.