In this paper, we use satellite data to test the hypothesis that deep convection moistens the lower stratosphere. Water vapor measurements from Earth Observing System-Microwave Limb Sounder and Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment-Fourier Transform Spectrometer over North America are binned according to the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project deep convection indices. The results show that in the North American region (50–112°W, 10–50°N) the convection-impacted samples are significantly moister than the nonimpact samples in the lowermost stratospheric layer right above the tropopause, and a drier tendency is also noticed right above this moistened layer. Trajectory modeling is used to aid the identification of deep convection-impacted water vapor samples. However, we find that a substantial fraction of high-concentration (>8 ppmv) samples at 100 hPa cannot be attributed to nearby deep convections.
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