Articles | Volume 25, issue 16
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9471-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9471-2025
Research article
 | 
28 Aug 2025
Research article |  | 28 Aug 2025

Vertical and horizontal variability and representativeness of the water vapor isotope composition in the lower troposphere: insight from ultralight aircraft flights in southern France during summer 2021

Daniele Zannoni, Hans Christian Steen-Larsen, Harald Sodemann, Iris Thurnherr, Cyrille Flamant, Patrick Chazette, Julien Totems, Martin Werner, and Myriam Raybaut

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Cited articles

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Aemisegger, F., Sturm, P., Graf, P., Sodemann, H., Pfahl, S., Knohl, A., and Wernli, H.: Measuring variations of δ18O and δ2H in atmospheric water vapour using two commercial laser-based spectrometers: an instrument characterisation study, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 1491–1511, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-5-1491-2012, 2012. 
Aemisegger, F., Pfahl, S., Sodemann, H., Lehner, I., Seneviratne, S. I., and Wernli, H.: Deuterium excess as a proxy for continental moisture recycling and plant transpiration, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 4029–4054, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-4029-2014, 2014. 
Aemisegger, F., Spiegel, J. K., Pfahl, S., Sodemann, H., Eugster, W., and Wernli, H.: Isotope meteorology of cold front passages: A case study combining observations and modeling, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 5652–5660, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL063988, 2015. 
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Short summary
High-resolution airborne observations reveal that mixing between the free troposphere and surface evapotranspiration flux primarily modulates the water vapor isotopic composition in the lower troposphere. Water vapor isotope structure variations occur on the scale of hundreds of meters, underlining the utility of stable isotopes for studying microscale atmospheric dynamics. This study also provides the basis for better validation of water vapor isotope remote sensing retrievals with surface observations.
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