ABSTRACT
Precipitation was collected on daily basis at K-puszta regional background monitoring station located near Kecskemét, in the western part of the Great Hungarian Plain, between 1 April 2013 and 31 December 2017 for stable hydrogen and oxygen analyses. The sample collection period covered 24 hours, from 07:00 to 07:00 h LT (Local Time) the next day. Stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope composition of the daily precipitation samples were measured using a Liquid Water Isotope Analyser (LWIA-24d) manufactured by Los Gatos Research Ltd. The dataset includes 472 stable isotopic data representing the continuation of the beforehand monitoring started in 2012 [1]. The dataset provides a unique opportunity to combine daily meteorological data and stable isotope composition of daily precipitation which can help to improve our understanding of the processes and factors at relatively high resolution that govern δD and δ18O values of the precipitation. In addition, the dataset can be used as an isotope hydrological benchmark in comparison with stable isotope dataset obtained from surface- and groundwater or other sources (e.g. climate proxies, agricultural products). Thus, research related to isotope hydrology, agriculture, paleoclimate can benefit from this dataset. Interpretation of this dataset focusing on the relationship between meteorological factors and stable isotope composition of precipitation is in progress.
ABSTRACT
The relationship between the atmospheric concentration of cosmogenic isotopes, the change of solar activity and hence secondary neutron flux has already been proven. The temporal atmospheric variation of the most studied cosmogenic isotopes shows a significant anti-correlation with solar cycles. However, since artificial tritium input to the atmosphere due to nuclear-weapon tests masked the expected variations of tritium production rate by three orders of magnitude, the natural variation of tritium in meteoric precipitation has not previously been detected. For the first time, we provide clear evidence of the positive correlation between the tritium concentration of meteoric precipitation and neutron flux modulated by solar magnetic activity. We found trends in tritium time series for numerous locations worldwide which are similar to the variation of secondary neutron flux and sun spot numbers. This variability appears to have similar periodicities to that of solar cycle. Frequency analysis, cross correlation analysis, continuous and cross wavelet analysis provide mathematical evidence that the correlation between solar cycle and meteoric tritium does exist. Our results demonstrate that the response of tritium variation in precipitation to the solar cycle can be used to help us understand its role in the water cycle.