Atmospheric moisture transport and the water balance of the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Previous studies of the water balance of the Mediterranean have relied on estimating evaporation ( E ) and precipitation ( P ) rates separately over the basin. An independent approach is to obtain the net difference between these rates by evaluating the divergence of the atmospheric flux of water vapor over the region. We apply this aerological approach to compute the annual mean value of E ‐ P over the Sea using upper air data collected during the 5‐year period 1968–1973. Our result is in general agreement with those obtained by the more classical methods. In addition we present maps of the two‐dimensional fields of precipitable water, of the vertically integrated water vapor flux vector, and of the divergence of water vapor over the region. These analyses are discussed in light of various climatological and hydrological considerations.