Isotope values of fresh snow samples and daily temperature from Neumayer station in the period 1981-2000

A trajectory model that calculated 5 day-backward trajectories was used to study the influence of different synoptic weather situations and thus of different moisture sources on this correlation. Generally a high correlation between air temperature and d18O was found, but the quality of the d18O-T relationship varied with the different trajectory classes.

Additionally, the sea-ice coverage on the travel path of the moist air was considered. The amount of open ocean water underneath the trajectory has a large influence on the d18O-T relationship. For trajectories that lead completely above open water, no significant correlation between d18O and T was found, because mixing with air masses containing additionally evaporated water vapour from the ocean influences the isotope ratio of precipitation.