Moisture source diagnostics and isotope characteristics for precipitation in east Hungary: implications for their relationship

Knowledge relating to the relationship between the characteristics of precipitation and sources of moisture is essential to improve our understanding of the global water cycle. This study presents the first quantitative estimation of the moisture source regions combined with stable isotope analyses for precipitation at K-puszta, east Hungary. The contributions of the following moisture sources were diagnosed according to the sector analysis of 4-day backward trajectories together with the calculation of evaporation and precipitation fluxes based on the specific humidity: Mediterranean region (57.0%), local moisture (14.8%), Atlantic region (14.2%), Northern Europe (7.4%) and Eastern Europe (6.6%). The <i>δ</i>D and <i>δ</i>¹⁸O values of daily precipitation were measured and the deuterium excess (d-excess) was calculated. The d-excess showed systematic differences among the marine sources, reflecting the characteristics of the moisture source area. The results suggest that the stable isotope composition of precipitation preserves information regarding the origin of the water vapour.