Water-vapor source shift of Xinjiang region during the recent twenty years

The aim of this paper is to investigate the climate water-vapor sources of Xinjiang region and their shifts during the past 20 years. First, the principle and steps are roughly regulated to seek the water-vapor sources. Second, the climate stationary water-vapor transport in troposphere is calculated to distinguish where the water vapor comes from by ERA-40 reanalysis. In addition, the collocation between the transport and the atmospheric column water vapor content is analyzed. The results show that the major vapor comes from the west side of Xinjiang for mid-month of seasons, apart from July while the water vapor comes from the north or northwest direction. The water vapor sources are different for different seasons, for example, the Caspian Sea and Mediterranean are the sources in January and April, the North Atlantic and the Arctic sea in July, and the Black Sea and Caspian Sea in October, respectively. In recent ten years more water vapor above Xinjiang comes from the high latitudes and the Arctic sea with global warming, and less from Mediterranean in comparison with the case of 1973—1986. In fact, the air over subtropics becomes dry and the anomalous water vapor transport direction turns to west or southwest during 1987—2000. By contrast, the air over middle and high latitudes is warmer and wetter than 14 years ago.