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Comparison of the seasonal change in cloud-radiative forcing from atmospheric general circulation models and satellite observations
- Source :
- Scopus-Elsevier, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, ResearcherID
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Abstract
- We compare seasonal changes in cloud-radiative forcing (CRF) at the top of the atmosphere from 18 atmospheric general circulation models, and observations from the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE). To enhance the CRF signal and suppress interannual variability, we consider only zonal mean quantities for which the extreme months (January and July), as well as the northern and southern hemispheres, have been differenced. Since seasonal variations of the shortwave component of CRF are caused by seasonal changes in both cloudiness and solar irradiance, the latter was removed. In the ERBE data, seasonal changes in CRF are driven primarily by changes in cloud amount. The same conclusion applies to the models. The shortwave component of seasonal CRF is a measure of changes in cloud amount at all altitudes, while the longwave component is more a measure of upper level clouds. Thus important insights into seasonal cloud amount variations of the models have been obtained by comparing both components, as generated by the models, with the satellite data. For example, in 10 of the 18 models the seasonal oscillations of zonal cloud patterns extend too far poleward by one latitudinal grid.
- Subjects :
- Cloud forcing
Atmospheric Science
Cloud cover
Soil Science
Forcing (mathematics)
Aquatic Science
Oceanography
Atmospheric sciences
Solar irradiance
Atmosphere
Geochemistry and Petrology
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
medicine
Earth-Surface Processes
Water Science and Technology
Ecology
Longwave
Paleontology
Forestry
Seasonality
medicine.disease
Geophysics
Space and Planetary Science
Climatology
Environmental science
Shortwave
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Scopus-Elsevier, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, ResearcherID
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....8728deeecbe72c68404fc1a256f202a4