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This global study analyzes how the total column water vapor (in terms of precipitable water, PW) is related to the attenuation of shortwave solar radiation (SWR) using data from the MERRA-2 reanalysis during 2000–2014 and SWR simulations obtained with the REST2 clear-sky radiation model. The water vapor radiative effect (WVRE) on SWR attenuation is investigated by comparing the clear-sky SWR predictions under humid and ideally dry atmospheres, whereas the quantitative effect of PW on WVRE is determined using the concept of precipitable water efficiency (PWE).

At global scale, WVRE exhibits a distinct seasonal pattern ranging from –80.2 to 0 W m^‐2, with lower values in humid regions where PW is typically high (>4 cm), making the water vapor contribution relatively small. This is attributed to the saturation effect in water vapor absorption. Over arid regions, the solar irradiance attenuation is mainly controlled by the high aerosol loads, and less negative WVRE values are found. Over high-altitude regions, the low PW reduces the atmospheric absorption, resulting in low absolute WVRE magnitudes.

PWE is found to extend globally between –133.7 and 0 W m^‐2 cm^‐1 on a monthly scale. This range is smaller on a long-term mean monthly or annual basis. On a long-term basis, the monthly PWE results are mainly concentrated between −20 and 0 W m⁻² cm⁻¹, generating leptokurtic and left-skewed distributions peaking between −10 and −8 W m⁻² cm⁻¹, depending on month. PWE is inversely related to PW on a long-term annual scale, indicating that PWE tends to zero under very humid conditions. A general nonlinear model is proposed to evaluate the hourly PWE at global scale on a monthly basis, separately for the two hemispheres.

A PW trend analysis reveals that the Middle East, equatorial regions, central Europe, and Australia exhibit significant temporal trends, further inducing significant trends in WVRE. For those areas, WVRE trends are calculated between −3.3 and 1.5 W m⁻² over the entire 15-year period.

In addition, the global WVRE over landmasses is classified in terms of the Köppen-Geiger (KG) climate classification system. The most pronounced radiative effects are found over the equatorial regions, with an average WVRE of −63 W m⁻². The Arid KG class provides a complex WVRE pattern ranging from −66 to −24 W m⁻². Further segregation of this class shows strongly variable WVRE, induced by local climate differentiation. Over Warm Temperate climates, WVRE is found to vary widely according to the various KG subclasses. For the Cold climate class, PW is mainly concentrated around 1 cm and WVRE is low. The Polar regions include high mountains where WVRE is low, with a median close to −28 W m⁻².