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Water vapor

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Water vapor (H2O)

Invisible water vapor condenses to form
visible clouds of liquid rain droplets
Liquid state Water
Solid state Ice
Properties[1]
Molecular formula H2O
Molar mass 18.01528(33) g/mol
Melting point 0.00 °C (273.15 K)[2]
Boiling point 99.98 °C (373.13 K)[2]
Specific gas constant 461.5 J/(kg·K)
Heat of vaporization 2.27 MJ/kg
Heat capacity at 300 K 1.864 kJ/(kg·K)[3]

Water vapor, water vapour or aqueous vapor is the gaseous phase of water. It is one state of water within the hydrosphere. Water vapor can be produced from the evaporation or boiling of liquid water or from the sublimation of ice. Water vapor is transparent, like most constituents of the atmosphere.[4] Under typical atmospheric conditions, water vapor is continuously generated by evaporation and removed by condensation. It is less dense than most of the other constituents of air and triggers convection currents that can lead to clouds and fog.

Being a component of Earth's hydrosphere and hydrologic cycle, it is particularly abundant in Earth's atmosphere, where it acts as a greenhouse gas and warming feedback, contributing more to total greenhouse effect than non-condensable gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Use of water vapor, as steam, has been important for cooking, and as a major component in energy production and transport systems since the industrial revolution.

Water vapor is a relatively common atmospheric constituent, present even in the solar atmosphere as well as every planet in the Solar System and many astronomical objects including natural satellites, comets and even large asteroids. Likewise the detection of extrasolar water vapor would indicate a similar distribution in other planetary systems. Water vapor can also be indirect evidence supporting the presence of extraterrestrial liquid water in the case of some planetary mass objects.

]]. Each individual water molecule which transitions between a more associated (liquid) and a leumidity). This practice delivers several benefits as well as problems.

In Earth's atmosphere

Evidence for increasing amounts of stratospheric water vapor over time in Boulder, Colorado.

Gaseous water represents a small but environmentally significant constituent of the atmosphere. The percentage of water vapor in surface air varies from 0.01% at -42 °C (-44 °F)[5] to 4.24% when the dew point is 30 °C (86 °F).[6] Over 99% of atmospheric water is in the form of vapour, rather than liquid water or ice,[7] and approximately 99.13% of the water vapour is contained in the troposphere. The condensation of water vapor to the liquid or ice phase is responsible for clouds, rain, snow, and other precipitation, all of which count among the most significant elements of what we experience as weather. Less obviously, the latent heat of vaporization, which is released to the atmosphere whenever condensation occurs, is one of the most important terms in the atmospheric energy budget on both local and global scales. For example, latent heat release in atmospheric convection is directly responsible for powering destructive storms such as tropical cyclones and severe thunderstorms. Water vapor is an important greenhouse gas[8][9] owing to the presence of the hydroxyl bond which strongly absorbs in the infra-red.

Water vapor is the "working medium" of the atmospheric thermodynamic engine which transforms heat energy from sun irradiation into mechanical energy in the form of winds. Transforming thermal energy into mechanical energy requires an upper and a lower temperature level, as well as a working medium which shuttles forth and back between both. The upper temperature level is given by the soil or water surface of the earth, which absorbs the incoming sun radiation and warms up, evaporating water. The moist and warm air at the ground is lighter than its surroundings and rises up to the upper limit of the troposphere. There the water molecules radiate their thermal energy into outer space, cooling down the surrounding air. The upper atmosphere constitutes the lower temperature level of the atmospheric thermodynamic engine. The water vapor in the now cold air condenses out and falls down to the ground in the form of rain or snow. The now heavier cold and dry air sinks down to ground as well; the atmospheric thermodynamic engine thus establishes a vertical convection, which transports heat from the ground into the upper atmosphere, where the water molecules can radiate it to outer space. Due to the earth's rotation and the resulting Coriolis forces, this vertical atmospheric convection is also converted into a horizontal convection, in the form of cyclones and anticyclones, which transport the water evaporated over the oceans into the interior of the continents, enabling vegetation to grow.[10]

Water in Earth's atmosphere is not merely below its boiling point (100 °C), but at altitude it goes below its freezing point (0 °C), due to water's highly polar attraction. When combined with its quantity, water vapor then has a relevant dew point and frost point, unlike e. g., carbon dioxide and methane. Water vapor thus has a scale height a fraction of that of the bulk atmosphere,[11][12][13] as the water condenses and exits, primarily in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere.[14] Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane, being well-mixed in the atmosphere, tend to rise above water vapour. The absorption and emission of both compounds contribute to Earth's emission to space, and thus the planetary greenhouse effect.[12][15][16] This greenhouse forcing is directly observable, via distinct spectral features versus water vapor, and observed to be rising with rising CO2 levels.[17] Conversely, adding water vapor at high altitudes has a disproportionate impact, which is why jet traffic[18][19][20] has a disproportionately high warming effect. Oxidation of methane is also a major source of water vapour in the stratosphere,[21] and adds about 15% to methane's global warming effect.[22]

In the absence of other greenhouse gases, Earth's water vapor would condense to the surface;[23][24][25] this has likely happened, possibly more than once. Scientists thus distinguish between non-condensable (driving) and condensable (driven) greenhouse gases, i.e., the above water vapor feedback.[26][9][8]

Fog and clouds form through condensation around cloud condensation nuclei. In the absence of nuclei, condensation will only occur at much lower temperatures. Under persistent condensation or deposition, cloud droplets or snowflakes form, which precipitate when they reach a critical mass.

Atmospheric concentration of water vapour is highly variable between locations and times, from 10 ppmv in the coldest air to 5% (50 000 ppmv) in humid tropical air,[27] and can be measured with a combination of land observations, weather balloons and satellites.[28] The water content of the atmosphere as a whole is constantly depleted by precipitation. At the same time it is constantly replenished by evaporation, most prominently from oceans, lakes, rivers, and moist earth. Other sources of atmospheric water include combustion, respiration, volcanic eruptions, the transpiration of plants, and various other biological and geological processes. At any given time there is about 1.29 x 1016 litres (3.4 x 1015 gal.) of water in the atmosphere. The atmosphere holds 1 part in 2500 of the fresh water, and 1 part in 100,000 of the total water on Earth.[29] The mean global content of water vapor in the atmosphere is roughly sufficient to cover the surface of the planet with a layer of liquid water about 25 mm deep.[30][31][32] The mean annual precipitation for the planet is about 1 metre, a comparison which implies a rapid turnover of water in the air – on average, the residence time of a water molecule in the troposphere is about 9 to 10 days.[32]

Some effects of global warming can either enhance (positive feedbacks such as increased water vapor concentration) or inhibit (negative feedbacks) warming.[33][34] Observations and modeling studies indicate that there is a net positive feedback to Earth's current global warming.[35]

Global mean water vapour is about 0.25% of the atmosphere by mass and also varies seasonally, in terms of contribution to atmospheric pressure between 2.62 hPa in July and 2.33 hPa in December.[36] IPCC AR6 expresses medium confidence in increase of total water vapour at about 1-2% per decade;[37] it is expected to increase by around 7% per °C of warming.[30]

Episodes of surface geothermal activity, such as volcanic eruptions and geysers, release variable amounts of water vapor into the atmosphere. Such eruptions may be large in human terms, and major explosive eruptions may inject exceptionally large masses of water exceptionally high into the atmosphere, but as a percentage of total atmospheric water, the role of such processes is trivial. The relative concentrations of the various gases emitted by volcanoes varies considerably according to the site and according to the particular event at any one site. However, water vapor is consistently the commonest volcanic gas; as a rule, it comprises more than 60% of total emissions during a subaerial eruption.[38]

Atmospheric water vapor content is expressed using various measures. These include vapor pressure, specific humidity, mixing ratio, dew point temperature, and relative humidity.

Radar and satellite imaging

These maps show the average amount of water vapor in a column of atmosphere in a given month.(click for more detail)
MODIS/Terra global mean atmospheric water vapor in atm-cm (centimeters of water in an atmospheric column if it condensed)

Because water molecules absorb microwaves and other radio wave frequencies, water in the atmosphere attenuates radar signals.[39] In addition, atmospheric water will reflect and refract signals to an extent that depends on whether it is vapor, liquid or solid.

Generally, radar signals lose strength progressively the farther they travel through the troposphere. Different frequencies attenuate at different rates, such that some components of air are opaque to some frequencies and transparent to others. Radio waves used for broadcasting and other communication experience the same effect.

Water vapor reflects radar to a lesser extent than do water's other two phases. In the form of drops and ice crystals, water acts as a prism, which it does not do as an individual molecule; however, the existence of water vapor in the atmosphere causes the atmosphere to act as a giant prism.[40]

A comparison of GOES-12 satellite images shows the distribution of atmospheric water vapor relative to the oceans, clouds and continents of the Earth. Vapor surrounds the planet but is unevenly distributed. The image loop on the right shows monthly average of water vapor content with the units are given in centimeters, which is the precipitable water or equivalent amount of water that could be produced if all the water vapor in the column were to condense. The lowest amounts of water vapor (0 centimeters) appear in yellow, and the highest amounts (6 centimeters) appear in dark blue. Areas of missing data appear in shades of gray. The maps are based on data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite. The most noticeable pattern in the time series is the influence of seasonal temperature changes and incoming sunlight on water vapor. In the tropics, a band of extremely humid air wobbles north and south of the equator as the seasons change. This band of humidity is part of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, where the easterly trade winds from each hemisphere converge and produce near-daily thunderstorms and clouds. Farther from the equator, water vapor concentrations are high in the hemisphere experiencing summer and low in the one experiencing winter. Another pattern that shows up in the time series is that water vapor amounts over land areas decrease more in winter months than adjacent ocean areas do. This is largely because air temperatures over land drop more in the winter than temperatures over the ocean. Water vapor condenses more rapidly in colder air.[41]

As water vapor absorbs light in the visible spectral range, its absorption can be used in spectroscopic applications (such as DOAS) to determine the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. This is done operationally, e.g. from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) spectrometers on ERS (GOME) and MetOp (GOME-2).[42] The weaker water vapor absorption lines in the blue spectral range and further into the UV up to its dissociation limit around 243 nm are mostly based on quantum mechanical calculations[43] and are only partly confirmed by experiments.[44]

Lightning generation

Water vapor plays a key role in lightning production in the atmosphere. From cloud physics, usually clouds are the real generators of static charge as found in Earth's atmosphere. The ability of clouds to hold massive amounts of electrical energy is directly related to the amount of water vapor present in the local system.

The amount of water vapor directly controls the permittivity of the air. During times of low humidity, static discharge is quick and easy. During times of higher humidity, fewer static discharges occur. Permittivity and capacitance work hand in hand to produce the megawatt outputs of lightning.[45]

After a cloud, for instance, has started its way to becoming a lightning generator, atmospheric water vapor acts as a substance (or insulator) that decreases the ability of the cloud to discharge its electrical energy. Over a certain amount of time, if the cloud continues to generate and store more static electricity, the barrier that was created by the atmospheric water vapor will ultimately break down from the stored electrical potential energy.[46] This energy will be released to a local oppositely charged region, in the form of lightning. The strength of each discharge is directly related to the atmospheric permittivity, capacitance, and the source's charge generating ability.[47]

Extraterrestrial

Water vapor is common in the Solar System and by extension, other planetary systems. Its signature has been detected in the atmospheres of the Sun, occurring in sunspots. The presence of water vapor has been detected in the atmospheres of all seven extraterrestrial planets in the solar system, the Earth's Moon,[48] and the moons of other planets,[which?] although typically in only trace amounts.

Cryogeyser erupting on Jupiter's moon Europa (artist concept)[49]
Artist's illustration of the signatures of water in exoplanet atmospheres detectable by instruments such as the Hubble Space Telescope.[50]

Geological formations such as cryogeysers are thought to exist on the surface of several icy moons ejecting water vapor due to tidal heating and may indicate the presence of substantial quantities of subsurface water. Plumes of water vapor have been detected on Jupiter's moon Europa and are similar to plumes of water vapor detected on Saturn's moon Enceladus.[49] Traces of water vapor have also been detected in the stratosphere of Titan.[51] Water vapor has been found to be a major constituent of the atmosphere of dwarf planet, Ceres, largest object in the asteroid belt[52] The detection was made by using the far-infrared abilities of the Herschel Space Observatory.[53] The finding is unexpected because comets, not asteroids, are typically considered to "sprout jets and plumes." According to one of the scientists, "The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids."[53] Scientists studying Mars hypothesize that if water moves about the planet, it does so as vapor.[54]

The brilliance of comet tails comes largely from water vapor. On approach to the Sun, the ice many comets carry sublimes to vapor. Knowing a comet's distance from the sun, astronomers may deduce the comet's water content from its brilliance.[55]

Water vapor has also been confirmed outside the Solar System. Spectroscopic analysis of HD 209458 b, an extrasolar planet in the constellation Pegasus, provides the first evidence of atmospheric water vapor beyond the Solar System. A star called CW Leonis was found to have a ring of vast quantities of water vapor circling the aging, massive star. A NASA satellite designed to study chemicals in interstellar gas clouds, made the discovery with an onboard spectrometer. Most likely, "the water vapor was vaporized from the surfaces of orbiting comets."[56] Other exoplanets with evidence of water vapor include HAT-P-11b and K2-18b.[57][58]

See also

References

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