Abstract
This study investigated variations in outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) in response to changes in sea surface temperature (SST) over the Pacific warm pool area (20°N–20°S, 130°E–170°W). OLR values were obtained from recent (January 2008–June 2010) geostationary window channel imagery at hourly resolution, which resolves processes associated with tropical convective clouds. We used linear regression analysis with the domain‐averaged OLR and SST anomalies (i.e., ΔOLR, ΔSST; deviations from their 90‐day moving averages). Results show that the regression slope appears to be significant only with SST least‐affected by cloud radiative forcing, for which SST needs to be obtained as daily average over cloud‐free regions (ΔSSTclear). The estimated value of ΔOLR/ΔSSTclear is 15.72 W m−2 K−1, indicating the presence of strong outgoing longwave radiation in response to surface warming. This atmospheric cooling effect is found to be primarily associated with reduced areal coverage of clouds (−14.4% K−1).
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