Search

The paper deals with the integrated water vapor (IWV) climatological regime and dynamics over the Baltic Sea region. It is the authors' ongoing work on the distribution of atmospheric moisture over the Baltic region, based on climatic remote sensing database. IWV daily means were obtained from the Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) archives for period 2004-2011. It was found that IWV long-term mean over the Baltic region is 15.38 kg/m². IVG average gradient is oriented north-south direction. The average difference between northern and southern part of the area is 2.1 kg/m². IVG has a seasonal variation: IVG maximum amount of midsummer at least three times higher than the late winter minimum. The largest horizontal IVG gradients are over the sea-land boundary areas. In October-March period IVG mean is higher 3% over sea surface than over land. In April-September IVG mean is 5% less over sea surface than over land. Homogeneity analysis showed that the ATOVS and SSMI / IVG data series over the central part of the Baltic are homogeneous only in the cold season from November to April. These data sets combined into one long data set helped to determine the climatic IVG indicators over the Central Baltic in 1989-2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the integrated water vapor content (IVG) variability in the southern Baltic Sea during the period 1988-2005 using Special Sensor Microwave (SSM/I) data. IVG means were obtained from satellite-based database applications (CM SAF) archives. It was found that the mean of IVG was 13.58 kg/m2 in analyzed area. IVG fluctuations are seasonal. The driest climate in the southern Baltic Sea is in period of December-March (cold period) and the wettest -- June-September (warm period). IVG reached mean maximum in July (21.45 kg/m2) and minimum -- in March (8.59 kg/m2). 1993 and 1996 were anomaly years. In those years IVG means were lower than the observed long-term mean. In 1993 IVG mean was 12.8 kg/m2 and in 1996 - 12.9 kg/m2. The analysis showed that IVG means values were higher than the long-term mean in 1999 (0.72 kg/m2). IVG means were higher than the multiannual average values (respectively 0.67, 0.58 and 0.59 kg/m2) in 1999--2000 and 2002. The main reasons leading to IVG anomalies are SST variations over the period, excluding the year 1999. The eastern Baltic Sea surface temperature positive deviations of October-December months affected positive anomalies of IVG. Sea surface temperature fluctuations of July-September months affected IVG negative variations, excluding the year 1999. In April 1999 the positive temperatures anomalies were higher more than +4.0 °C in the Baltic states (Annual Bulletin…, 2000). It was found that the highest IVG values in warm period (July-September) were in regions closer to the coast (55°-57° N and 19°- 21° E), and in the period of January-March the lowest IVG means were in 56°-57° N and 17°-21° E area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]