Atmospheric isotopes: evolution of stable water isotopologues as an applicable data source

Abstract

Stable water isotopes have been employed as a means of challenging, validating and improving numerical models of basin-scale water processes since the 1980s. Two rare but naturally occurring isotopologues of water, 1H218O and 1H2H16O, are coming to be of practical use in diagnosis of water cycle system changes. Recent developments have served to illustrate how detection and attribution of both human impacts and natural variations in surface-atmosphere water exchanges can beneficially exploit stable water isotope observations and simulations. The promise for isotopic finger-printing of near-surface water cycle changes is illustrated here for three important basins. © 2005 AIP