Comment on essd-2022-3

Abstract

In early 2020, an international team set out to investigate trade wind cumulus and their coupling to the large-scale circulation through the field campaign EUREC4A: ElUcidating the RolE of Clouds‐Circulation Coupling in ClimAte. Focused on the western tropical Atlantic near Barbados, EUREC4A deployed a number of innovative observational strategies, including a large network of water isotopic measurements, to study the tropical shallow convective environment. The goal of the isotopic measurements was to elucidate processes that regulate the hydroclimate state – for example, by identifying moisture sources, quantifying mixing between atmospheric layers, characterizing the microphysics that influence the formation and persistence of clouds and precipitation, and providing an extra constraint in the evaluation of numerical simulations. During EUREC4A, researchers deployed seven water vapor isotopic analyzers on two aircraft, on three ships, and at the Barbados Cloud Observatory (BCO). Precipitation was also collected for isotopic analysis at BCO and from aboard four ships. In addition, three ships collected seawater for isotopic analysis. All told, the in situ data span the period 5 January through 22 February 2020 and cover the approximate area 6 to 16° N and −50 to −60° W. Moreover, water vapor isotope ratios were measured from a few meters to nearly 8 km above sea level. This paper describes the full EUREC4A isotopic in situ data collection – providing extensive information about sampling strategies and data uncertainties – and also guides readers to complementary remotely sensed water vapor isotope ratios. DOIs for the multiple isotopic datasets are provided in Sect. 5 Data Availability.

Authors 27

1. Adriana Bailey corresponding

   NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research

   Affiliation as printed

   National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA

2. Franziska Aemisegger corresponding

   ETH Zurich · Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

3. Leonie Villiger corresponding

   ETH Zurich · Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

4. Sebastian A. Los corresponding

   University of New Mexico

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

5. Gilles Reverdin corresponding

   Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Sorbonne Université · Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace · Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques · Institut de Recherche pour le Développement

   Affiliation as printed

   Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat: expérimentation et approches numériques (LOCEAN/IPSL), Sorbonne Université-CNRS-IRD-MNHN, Paris, France

6. Estefanía Quiñones Meléndez

   Oregon State University

   Affiliation as printed

   College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

7. Claudia Acquistapace corresponding

   University of Cologne

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany

8. Dariusz B. Baranowski

   Institute of Geophysics Polish Academy of Sciences · Polish Academy of Sciences

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Geophysics Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

9. Tobias Böck

   University of Cologne

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany

10. Sandrine Bony corresponding

    Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Sorbonne Université · Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique

    Affiliation as printed

    Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD/IPSL), CNRS, Sorbonne University, Paris, France

11. Tobias Bordsdorff corresponding Aachen Netherlands Institute for Space Research

    Space Research Organisation Netherlands

    Affiliation as printed

    Netherlands Institute for Space Research, SRON, Leiden, the Netherlands

12. Derek Coffman

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

    Affiliation as printed

    NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), Seattle, WA, USA

13. Simon P. de Szoeke corresponding

    Oregon State University

    Affiliation as printed

    College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

14. Christopher J. Diekmann corresponding

    Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-ASF), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany

15. Marina DÃ ⁄ tsch corresponding

    University of Vienna · University of Washington

    Affiliation as printed

    University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

16. Benjamin Ertl corresponding

    Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-ASF), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany

    Steinbuch Centre for Computing (SCC), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany

17. Joseph Galewsky

    University of New Mexico

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

18. Dean Henze

    Oregon State University

    Affiliation as printed

    College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

19. Przemysław Makuch corresponding

    Instytut Oceanologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland

20. David Noone

    Oregon State University · University of Auckland

    Affiliation as printed

    College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Department of Physics, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

21. Patricia K. Quinn

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

    Affiliation as printed

    NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), Seattle, WA, USA

22. Michael ​​Rösch

    ETH Zurich

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

23. Andreas M. Schneider Aachen Netherlands Institute for Space Research

    Finnish Meteorological Institute · Space Research Organisation Netherlands

    Affiliation as printed

    Finnish Meteorological Institute, Sodankylä, Finland

    Netherlands Institute for Space Research, SRON, Leiden, the Netherlands

24. Matthias F. Schneider corresponding

    Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-ASF), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany

25. Sabrina Speich

    Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

    Affiliation as printed

    LMD/IPSL, École Normale Supérieure, CNRS, Paris, France

26. Björn Stevens corresponding

    Max Planck Institute for Meteorology

    Affiliation as printed

    Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany

27. Elizabeth Thompson corresponding

    NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory

    Affiliation as printed

    NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA