El Niño, water vapor, and the global positioning system

Abstract
The 1997–1998 El Niño had a profound impact on atmospheric circulation in the tropical Pacific and affected weather patterns world‐wide. Precipitable water estimates from Global Positioning System (GPS) sites in the western tropical Pacific capture the sudden onset of large‐scale subsidence, a phenomenon proposed as a possible mechanism driving the eventual decline of El Niño episodes. The atmospheric drying associated with this anomalous high‐pressure ridge and the turnabout as the warm episode transitions into the subsequent La Niña are clearly visible in the GPS observations.

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