Atmospheric river trajectories organise along a global transport network

Atmospheric river trajectories organise along a global transport network | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Atmospheric river trajectories organise along a global transport network Tobias Braun, Sara Vallejo-Bernal, Norbert Marwan, Jürgen Kurths, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7482510/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Atmospheric rivers (ARs) transport vast amounts of water vapor and cause weather extremes. However, they have typically been studied as isolated events rather than as components of a global transport system. By mapping ARs worldwide, we reveal that their transport is organized along a sparse set of preferred pathways forming a global network . Recognizing ARs as a globally interconnected system is highly relevant, not only for advancing atmospheric science but also for improving forecasts of extreme precipitation, droughts, and polar ice melt under climate change. Beyond the familiar storm tracks, we identify hubs of pronounced vapor transport changes and demonstrate that polar regions act as structural accumulation regions for persistent ARs. ARs preferentially travel along circumglobal atmospheric highways shaped by teleconnection patterns and circulation regimes, providing new opportunities for AR prediction. While previous research recognized only five AR basins , we uncover a larger, hierarchically organized set of interconnected basins that provides a more comprehensive understanding of how regional AR hotspots are embedded within large-scale flow. The global AR transport network links synoptic storms to planetary circulation, illuminating hidden pathways in the global water cycle . Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Atmospheric science/Atmospheric dynamics Physical sciences/Physics/Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics/Complex networks atmospheric rivers complex networks climate networks moisture transport Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files supplementcompressed.pdf Supplement of: Atmospheric river trajectories organise along a global transport network Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7482510","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":532629188,"identity":"0f34ed98-def9-442f-9f6f-db4d442ac3ff","order_by":0,"name":"Tobias 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