A surface air temperature response function for earth's atmosphere

Abstract

A property of Earth's atmosphere called the‘surface air temperature response function’ is defined to be the change in surface air temperature that results from a change in radiant energy absorbed at the planet's surface. It is experimentally evaluated by three independent techniques to yield a value over land of 0.172 K (Wm−2)−1 while one of these techniques yields a value about half that great for stations on the extreme west coast of the United States. Computing an appropriate global upper limit from these two results yields a value of 0.113 K (Wm−2)−1, which compares well with a fourth technique that yields a mean global value of 0.097 K (Wm−2)−1. The results imply an unexpected time-scale invariant response function.