M. Schoeberl and co-authors use forward trajectory modelling to investigate the processes influencing upper tropospheric/lower stratospheric (UTLS) water vapour anomalies. Examining the pathways taken by parcels from the base of the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) upwards, they find that the belt of TTL parcel origins is much wider than the final dehydration zone near the top of the TTL. In the lower stratosphere, the driest air parcels originate from the Tropical West Pacific where they dehydrate in the cold upper troposphere as they move upwards, while the wettest air parcels originate from the edge of this region as well as in the American and Asian monsoon regions in summer. The full abstract can be found here.