Abstract
Water vapor is the most dominant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and plays a critical role in Earth’s energy budget and hydrological cycle. This study aims to characterize the long-term seasonal variation of relative humidity (RH), convective available potential energy (CAPE), and convective inhibition (CIN) from surface and radiosonde observations from 1980–2020. The results show that during the monsoon season, very high RH values are depicted while low values are depicted during the pre-monsoon season. West Coast stations represent large RH values compared to other stations throughout the year. Irrespective of the season, the coastal regions show higher RH values during monsoon season. Regardless of season, the coastal regions have higher RH values during the monsoon season. During the pre-monsoon season, the coastal region has high RH values, whereas other regions have high RH values during the monsoon season. The rate of increase in RH in North-West India is 5.4%, followed by the West Coast, Central, and Southern parts of India. An increase in water vapor leads to raised temperature, which alters the instability conditions. In terms of seasonal variation, our findings show that CAPE follows a similar RH pattern. CAPE increases sharply in Central India and the West Coast region, while it declines in South India. Opposite features are observed in CIN with respect to CAPE variability over India. The results of the study provide additional evidence with respect to the role of RH as an influencing factor for an increase in CAPE over India.
Highlights
Water vapor is the most important constituent of the atmosphere and it plays a major role in the radiative balance and hydrological cycle [1]
We present a comprehensive analysis of water vapor variability over the Indian region based on 49 surface observations, as well as the implications for in-stability parameters estimated from 30 radiosonde stations across India
During the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, moisture is transported from oceanic regions to the land surface, resulting in high relative humidity (RH) values [21]
Summary
Water vapor is the most important constituent of the atmosphere and it plays a major role in the radiative balance and hydrological cycle [1]. Water vapor is important in the atmospheric branch of the global energy and hydrological cycle because it allows winds to move water around the Earth and serves as a source for cloud and precipitation formation [2]. It affects all aspects of the atmosphere, including dynamics, chemistry, and radiation [3]. Increased water vapor (due to GHG) reduces outgoing long wave radiation and contributes to further warming. Water vapor variability research is critical for understanding climate change and water vapor feedback on global warming
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
