Tropospheric δD profile measurements by ground-based FTIR

Water participates in many processes that are crucial for the Earth’s climate. By distribution of heat (vertically and horizontally), regulating surface temperature, formation of clouds, radiative forcing due to water vapour, etc., it widely determines the energy budget and thus the climate of our planet. The isotopologue ratios of water (e.g. HD¹⁶O/H₂¹⁶O) are a powerful tool for investigating the different water cycle processes. In the following we express H₂¹⁶O and HD¹⁶O as H₂O and HDO, respectively, and HD¹⁶O/H₂¹⁶O as δD = 1000‰ • {([HD¹⁶O]/[H₂¹⁶O]) / SMOW} -1, where SMOW=3.1152 • 10-4 (SMOW: Standard Mean Ocean Water).

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