Controls on water vapor isotopes over Roorkee, India: Impact of convective activities and depression systems

Abstract The study evaluates the water vapor isotopic compositions and its controls with special reference to Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) season at Roorkee, India. Precipitation is usually a discrete event spatially and temporally in this part of the country, therefore, the information provided is limited, while, the vapors have all time availability and have a significant contribution in the hydrological cycle locally or over a regional scale. Hence for understanding the processes altering the various sources, its isotopic signatures were studied. The Isotope Water Vapour Line (Iso Val) was drawn together with the Global Meteoric Water Line (GMWL) and the best fit line was δD = 5.42 * δ 18 O + 27.86. The precipitation samples were also collected during the study period and were best fitted with δD = 8.20(±0.18) * δ 18 O + 9.04(±1.16) in the Local Meteoric Water Line (LMWL). From the back trajectory analysis of respective vapor samples, it is unambiguous that three major sources viz; local vapor, western disturbance and monsoon vapor are controlling the fate of moisture over Roorkee. The d-excess in ground-level vapor (GLV) reveals the supply of recycled moisture from continental water bodies and evapo-transpiration as additional moisture sources to the study area. The intensive depletion in isotopic ratios was associated with the large-scale convective activity and low-pressure/cyclonic/depression systems formed over Bay of Bengal.