Collaborative Research: Isotopic Characteristics of Precipitation Across the United States: Patterns and Processes

该奖项为一项合作研究(科罗拉多大学和怀俄明大学)提供支持，以分析15年来每周在全美80个地点收集的样本的同位素组成(O和H)，这些样本由国家酸沉积计划收集和存储。这一新的数据集将使美国现有的降水稳定同位素数据库增加约200倍，从而更好地描述美国的基本同位素-气候关系。这些信息是更好地利用湖泊沉积物、树木年轮和碳酸盐沉积中发现的古环境数据所必需的。这项研究将研究经典的同位素-气候关系，如与温度、降雨量、大陆性和海拔的关系，以及天气尺度模式，如气压模式(即ENSO)、风暴路径、长波模式以及干旱和洪水模式。

This award provides support for a collaborative study (Universities of Colorado and Wyoming) to analyze the isotopic composition (O and H) of 15 years of samples collected weekly at 80 sites across the United States, samples collected and stored by the National Acid Deposition Program. This new data set will increase the existing database of stable isotopes in precipitation in the U.S. by about a factor of 200, allowing a better characterization of the basic isotope - climate relationships in the U.S. Such information is needed to make better use of paleoenvironmental data such as are found in lake sediments, tree rings and carbonate deposits. The study will examine both the classic isotope - climate relationships such as those with temperature, rainfall amount, continentality and elevation, as well as synoptic scale patterns such as pressure patterns (i.e. ENSO), storm tracks, long wave patterns, and drought and flood patterns.