Shortwave Cloud Radiative Effect Research Articles

Response of surface shortwave cloud radiative effect to greenhouse gases and aerosols and its impact on summer maximum temperature

Abstract. Shortwave cloud radiative effects (SWCREs), defined as the difference of the shortwave radiative flux between all-sky and clear-sky conditions at the surface, have been reported to play an important role in influencing the Earth's energy budget and temperature extremes. In this study, we employed a set of global climate models to examine the SWCRE responses to CO2, black carbon (BC) aerosols, and sulfate aerosols in boreal summer over the Northern Hemisphere. We found that CO2 causes positive SWCRE changes over most of the NH, and BC causes similar positive responses over North America, Europe, and eastern China but negative SWCRE over India and tropical Africa. When normalized by effective radiative forcing, the SWCRE from BC is roughly 3–5 times larger than that from CO2. SWCRE change is mainly due to cloud cover changes resulting from changes in relative humidity (RH) and, to a lesser extent, changes in cloud liquid water, circulation, dynamics, and stability. The SWCRE response to sulfate aerosols, however, is negligible compared to that for CO2 and BC because part of the radiation scattered by clouds under all-sky conditions will also be scattered by aerosols under clear-sky conditions. Using a multilinear regression model, it is found that mean daily maximum temperature (Tmax) increases by 0.15 and 0.13 K per watt per square meter (W m−2) increase in local SWCRE under the CO2 and BC experiment, respectively. When domain-averaged, the contribution of SWCRE change to summer mean Tmax changes was 10 %–30 % under CO2 forcing and 30 %–50 % under BC forcing, varying by region, which can have important implications for extreme climatic events and socioeconomic activities.

Improving the Southern Ocean cloud albedo biases in a general circulation model

Abstract. The present generation of global climate models is characterised by insufficient reflection of short-wave radiation over the Southern Ocean due to a misrepresentation of clouds. This is a significant concern as it leads to excessive heating of the ocean surface, sea surface temperature biases and subsequent problems with atmospheric dynamics. In this study, we modify cloud microphysics in a recent version of the Met Office's Unified Model and show that choosing a more realistic value for the shape parameter of atmospheric ice crystals, in better agreement with theory and observations, benefits the simulation of short-wave radiation. In the model, for calculating the growth rate of ice crystals through deposition, the default assumption is that all ice particles are spherical in shape. We modify this assumption to effectively allow for oblique shapes or aggregates of ice crystals. Along with modified ice nucleation temperatures, we achieve a reduction in the annual-mean short-wave cloud radiative effect over the Southern Ocean by up to ∼4 W m−2 and seasonally much larger reductions compared to the control model. By slowing the growth of the ice phase, the model simulates substantially more supercooled liquid cloud.

Linking large-scale circulation patterns to low-cloud properties

Abstract. The North Pacific High (NPH) is a fundamental meteorological feature present during the boreal warm season. Marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds, which are persistent in this oceanic region, are influenced directly by the NPH. In this study, we combine 11 years of reanalysis and an unsupervised machine learning technique to examine the gamut of 850 hPa synoptic-scale circulation patterns. This approach reveals two distinguishable regimes – a dominant NPH setup and a land-falling cyclone – and in between a spectrum of large-scale patterns. We then use satellite retrievals to elucidate for the first time the explicit dependence of MBL cloud properties (namely cloud droplet number concentration, liquid water path, and shortwave cloud radiative effect – CRESW) on 850 hPa circulation patterns over the northeast Pacific Ocean. We find that CRESW spans from −146.8 to −115.5 W m−2, indicating that the range of observed MBL cloud properties must be accounted for in global and regional climate models. Our results demonstrate the value of combining reanalysis and satellite retrievals to help clarify the relationship between synoptic-scale dynamics and cloud physics.

The Influence of Sea Surface Temperature Reemergence on Marine Stratiform Cloud

AbstractThe global distribution of winter to winter sea surface temperature (SST) reemergence is analyzed using a novel metric based on an autoregressive 1 model, and the global impact of SST on cloud amount and cloud type are examined using satellite data. A region in the northeastern Pacific Ocean is identified where wintertime SSTs are correlated with the occurrence of marine stratiform cloud the following winter. This correlation is likely a manifestation of SST reemergence. We hypothesize that through this reemergence mechanism marine stratus cloud amount, and thus shortwave cloud radiative effect, in the northeastern Pacific exhibits memory on inter‐seasonal and even multi‐year time scales and that exploration of this relationship may provide insight into the SST—low cloud feedbacks.

Distinctive spring shortwave cloud radiative effect and its inter‐annual variation over southeastern China

AbstractThe shortwave cloud radiative effect (SWCRE) plays a critical role in the earth's radiation balance, and its global mean magnitude is much larger than the warming effect induced by greenhouse gases. This study investigates the SWCRE at the top of the atmosphere and its inter‐annual variation over southeastern China (SEC) using satellite retrievals and ERA‐Interim reanalysis data. The results show that in this region the largest SWCRE with the maximum intensity up to −120 W·m−2 occurs in spring and is also the strongest between 60°S and 60°N. The domain‐averaged intensity of SWCRE is much larger than the longwave cloud radiative effect (LWCRE), suggesting the dominant cooling role of SWCRE in the regional atmosphere–surface system. The spring SWCRE over SEC shows a weak increasing trend and its anomalies in most years exceed those of LWCRE during 2000–2017. This means that SWCRE also plays a dominant role in the inter‐annual variation of regional cloud radiative effects. Over SEC, low‐ to mid‐level ascending motion and water vapor convergence during spring favor the generation and maintenance of cloud water, leading to strong SWCRE. Statistical analysis shows that the spatial pattern and intensity of the spring SWCRE are well correlated with the low‐ to mid‐level ascending motion and water vapor convergence. The temporal correlation coefficient between domain‐averaged spring SWCRE and 850–500‐hPa vertical velocity is .76 during 2000–2017. The long‐term variation in spring SWCRE over SEC can be inferred to some extent from regional ascending motion and associated large‐scale circulations.

Effect of Arctic clouds on the ice‐albedo feedback in midsummer

AbstractThe Arctic clouds should be an important factor that affects the summertime sea ice. By reflecting the incoming solar radiation before it reaches the surface, the Arctic clouds may prevent the surface from absorbing tremendous solar radiation due to the reduced sea ice. This cloud effect will lead to intervene the feedback relation between the solar radiation and the sea ice change. However, few studies have quantitatively investigated the Arctic cloud effect on the ice‐albedo feedback. This study found that the Arctic clouds regulate the melting speed of sea ice in midsummer months (June to August) based on the data from multiple sources, that is, satellite, reanalysis, and climate models. During this period, the fraction of Arctic clouds with the net radiative cooling effect is almost invariable with sea ice reduction. However, despite of the steady cloud fraction in the midsummer months, the shortwave cloud radiative effect (total‐sky minus clear‐sky absorbed shortwave radiation) was found to significantly increase with the reduced sea ice concentration (0.64 W m−2%−1 in CERES, 0.73 W m−2%−1 in ERA5). This is because the clouds present more contrast of albedo with the sea ice‐free ocean than the sea ice‐covered ocean. Finally, our analyses show that the Arctic clouds are nearly halving the strength of the ice‐albedo feedback in the midsummer months. These results imply that the sea ice reduction could have been much faster in the past decades in the absence of the cloud effect found here.

The sub-adiabatic model as a concept for evaluating the representation and radiative effects of low-level clouds in a high-resolution atmospheric model

Abstract. The realistic representation of low-level clouds, including their radiative effects, in atmospheric models remains challenging. A sensitivity study is presented to establish a conceptual approach for the evaluation of low-level clouds and their radiative impact in a highly resolved atmospheric model. Considering simulations for six case days, the analysis supports the notion that the properties of clouds more closely match the assumptions of the sub-adiabatic rather than the vertically homogeneous cloud model, suggesting its use as the basis for evaluation. For the considered cases, 95.7 % of the variance in cloud optical thickness is explained by the variance in the liquid water path, while the droplet number concentration and the sub-adiabatic fraction contribute only 3.5 % and 0.2 % to the total variance, respectively. A mean sub-adiabatic fraction of 0.45 is found, which exhibits strong inter-day variability. Applying a principal component analysis and subsequent varimax rotation to the considered set of nine properties, four dominating modes of variability are identified, which explain 97.7 % of the total variance. The first and second components correspond to the cloud base and top height, and to liquid water path, optical thickness, and cloud geometrical extent, respectively, while the cloud droplet number concentration and the sub-adiabatic fraction are the strongest contributors to the third and fourth components. Using idealized offline radiative transfer calculations, it is confirmed that the shortwave and longwave cloud radiative effects exhibit little sensitivity to the vertical structure of clouds. This reconfirms, based on an unprecedented large set of highly resolved vertical cloud profiles, that the cloud optical thickness and the cloud top and bottom heights are the main factors dominating the shortwave and longwave radiative effect of clouds and should be evaluated together with radiative fluxes using observations to attribute model deficiencies in the radiative fluxes to deficiencies in the representation of clouds. Considering the different representations of cloud microphysical processes in atmospheric models, the analysis has been further extended and the deviations between the radiative impact of the single- and double-moment schemes are assessed. Contrasting the shortwave cloud radiative effect obtained from the double-moment scheme to that of a single-moment scheme, differences of about ∼40 W m−2 and significant scatter are observed. The differences are attributable to a higher cloud albedo resulting from the high values of droplet number concentration in particular in the boundary layer predicted by the double-moment scheme, which reach median values of around ∼600 cm−3.

Modelling the relationship between liquid water content and cloud droplet number concentration observed in low clouds in the summer Arctic and its radiative effects

Abstract. Low clouds persist in the summer Arctic with important consequences for the radiation budget. In this study, we simulate the linear relationship between liquid water content (LWC) and cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) observed during an aircraft campaign based out of Resolute Bay, Canada, conducted as part of the Network on Climate and Aerosols: Addressing Key Uncertainties in Remote Canadian Environments study in July 2014. Using a single-column model, we find that autoconversion can explain the observed linear relationship between LWC and CDNC. Of the three autoconversion schemes we examined, the scheme using continuous drizzle (Khairoutdinov and Kogan, 2000) appears to best reproduce the observed linearity in the tenuous cloud regime (Mauritsen et al., 2011), while a scheme with a threshold for rain (Liu and Daum, 2004) best reproduces the linearity at higher CDNC. An offline version of the radiative transfer model used in the Canadian Atmospheric Model version 4.3 is used to compare the radiative effects of the modelled and observed clouds. We find that there is no significant difference in the upward longwave cloud radiative effect at the top of the atmosphere from the three autoconversion schemes (p=0.05) but that all three schemes differ at p=0.05 from the calculations based on observations. In contrast, the downward longwave and shortwave cloud radiative effect at the surface for the Wood (2005b) and Khairoutdinov and Kogan (2000) schemes do not differ significantly (p=0.05) from the observation-based radiative calculations, while the Liu and Daum (2004) scheme differs significantly from the observation-based calculation for the downward shortwave but not the downward longwave fluxes.

The short-term variability of aerosols and their impact on cloud properties and radiative effect over the Indo-Gangetic Plain

Anthropogenic activities have been shown to have a significant effect on weather and hence climate. However, discerning them from various observations over a certain region including India has been a challenge due to the large role played by natural variability. We show that anthropogenic signals in terms of sub-weekly scale are quite significant (of the order of 20%) in aerosol loading over the Indo-Gangetic Plains. These, in turn, clouds become thinner and less reflective with weekly variations of aerosol, which indicate the possible effect of aerosol on clouds. In terms of changes to Short Wave (SW) and Long Wave (LW) radiation fluxes, we find that change in aerosol direct effect is larger during cloudy sky conditions than clear sky conditions showing that aerosol induced changes to dynamics and hence clouds are dominant factors. This is also manifested in changes to cloud macro physical properties such as cloud optical depth (COD), cloud top temperature (CTT), cloud top pressure (CTP) and liquid water path (LWP). The changes in clear-sky and all-sky top of the atmosphere aerosol direct radiative effect (DRE) and cloud radiative effect (CRE) using CERES derived fluxes were found to be ~7–10% different during weekends with respect to weekly means. Similarly, the change in longwave cloud radiative effect is double that of the shortwave CRE.

Radiative Effect of Clouds at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, as Inferred from Ground-Based Remote Sensing Observations

AbstractFor the first time, the cloud radiative effect (CRE) has been characterized for the Arctic site Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway, including more than 2 years of data (June 2016–September 2018). The cloud radiative effect, that is, the difference between the all-sky and equivalent clear-sky net radiative fluxes, has been derived based on a combination of ground-based remote sensing observations of cloud properties and the application of broadband radiative transfer simulations. The simulated fluxes have been evaluated in terms of a radiative closure study. Good agreement with observed surface net shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) fluxes has been found, with small biases for clear-sky (SW: 3.8 W m−2; LW: −4.9 W m−2) and all-sky (SW: −5.4 W m−2; LW: −0.2 W m−2) situations. For monthly averages, uncertainties in the CRE are estimated to be small (~2 W m−2). At Ny-Ålesund, the monthly net surface CRE is positive from September to April/May and negative in summer. The annual surface warming effect by clouds is 11.1 W m−2. The longwave surface CRE of liquid-containing cloud is mainly driven by liquid water path (LWP) with an asymptote value of 75 W m−2 for large LWP values. The shortwave surface CRE can largely be explained by LWP, solar zenith angle, and surface albedo. Liquid-containing clouds (LWP > 5 g m−2) clearly contribute most to the shortwave surface CRE (70%–98%) and, from late spring to autumn, also to the longwave surface CRE (up to 95%). Only in winter are ice clouds (IWP > 0 g m−2; LWP < 5 g m−2) equally important or even dominating the signal in the longwave surface CRE.

Impact of δ-Four-Stream Radiative Transfer Scheme on global climate model simulation

The impact of radiative transfer scheme on global climate model (GCM) simulation is presented in this paper by comparing the difference between δ-two-stream adding method (δ-2DDA) and adding algorithm of the δ-four-stream discrete ordinates method (δ-4DDA) radiation schemes in the Atmospheric General Circulation Model of the Beijing Climate Center (BCC_AGCM). Only consider the effects of the calculation method itself, the δ-4DDA reduces the negative shortwave cloud radiative effect (CRE) in the areas with a significant fraction of low cloud, while enhances the negative shortwave CRE in the areas with the large fraction of high cloud. For the longwave CRE, the δ-4DDA enhances the longwave CRE drastically in the regions with a significant fraction of the high cloud. The feedback of clouds results in more interesting results. The δ-4DDA produces more accurate shortwave CRE in the region over the land and ocean in the middle and high latitude areas. The longwave CRE simulated by δ-4DDA is better than that affected by δ-2DDA over the ground in Africa, South America, and Atlantic. The change of radiation scheme affects the simulation of other meteorological variables. The simulation of global humidity by δ-4DDA is improved obviously. The δ-4DDA simulates more accurate temperature in continents of the northern hemisphere and precipitation in North America, Africa, northern Indian Ocean and western Pacific. Although the improvement of every physical process is required to develop the models, implementing δ-4DDA scheme into GCM and evaluating the effect of it are necessary and meaningful.

Asymmetry of Cloud Vertical Structures and Associated Radiative Effects in Typhoon over the Northwest Pacific Based on CloudSat Tropical Cyclone Dataset

The clouds’ macro-, microphysical vertical structures and radiative effects in 4 shear-relative quadrants of typhoon over the northwest Pacific during development, maturity and extinction stages are studied based on CloudSat Tropical Cyclone dataset and China Meteorological Administration tropical cyclone dataset from 2nd June 2006 to 31th December 2015. The typhoon cloud is in an asymmetric “mushroom” shape, with the downshear quadrants (in particular of the downshear left quadrant (DL)) have denser clouds than the upshear quadrants. Cloud ice water content mainly distributes near typhoon center with wide vertical range (6–17 km). A large number of ice particles with small sizes are gathering in high levels, while small amount of ice particles with large sizes are gathering in low levels. As typhoon matures, the number concentration and size of cloud ice particles in inner ring increases, especially in the DL quadrant; while in the upshear left (UL) quadrant, a larger amount of ice particles with bigger sizes are transport to high levels (above 16 km) by deeper convection near storm center. The shortwave (longwave) cloud radiative effects (CRE) is mainly heating (cooling) upper layer atmosphere between 10 km and 17 km (between 14 km and 17 km), and the net CRE on atmosphere is heating almost at any levels in typhoon. The strongest heating of shortwave CRE and net CRE, as well as the strongest cooling of longwave CRE are in the DL quadrant at development stage and in the UL quadrant at maturity stage in inner core of storms. The existences of typhoon clouds mainly decrease solar radiation penetrating to the earth surface and increase longwave radiation absorbed by the whole atmosphere in typhoon’s inner core, and they are generally stronger in downshear (especially in DL) quadrants, except the maturity stage when the UL quadrant performs the strongest shortwave CRE on the surface and longwave CRE on the atmosphere in typhoon’s inner core.

Attribution of Recent Trends in Temperature Extremes over China: Role of Changes in Anthropogenic Aerosol Emissions over Asia

ABSTRACT Observations indicate large changes in temperature extremes over China during the last four decades, exhibiting as significant increases in the amplitude and frequency of hot extremes and decreases in the amplitude and frequency of cold extremes. An ensemble of transient experiments with the fully coupled atmosphere–ocean model HadGEM3-GC2, including both anthropogenic forcing and natural forcing, successfully reproduces the spatial pattern and magnitude of observed historical trends in both hot and cold extremes. The model-simulated trends in temperature extremes primarily come from the positive trends in clear-sky longwave radiation, which is mainly due to the increases in greenhouse gases (GHGs). An ensemble of sensitivity experiments with Asian anthropogenic aerosol (AA) emissions fixed at their 1970s levels tends to overestimate the trends in temperature extremes, indicating that local AA emission changes have moderated the trends in these temperature extremes over China. The recent increases in Asian AA drive cooling trends over China by inducing negative clear-sky shortwave radiation directly through the aerosol–radiation interaction, which partly offsets the strong warming effect by GHG changes. The cooling trends induced by Asian AA changes are weaker over northern China during summer, which is due to the warming effect by the positive shortwave cloud radiative effect through the AA-induced atmosphere–cloud feedback. This accounts for the observed north–south gradients of the historical trends in some temperature extremes over China, highlighting the importance of local Asian AA emission changes on spatial heterogeneity of trends in temperature extremes.

Responses of Clouds and Large‐Scale Circulation to Global Warming Evaluated From Multidecadal Simulations Using a Global Nonhydrostatic Model

AbstractThis is the first paper that analyzes data from atmosphere model intercomparison project‐type climate simulations using a cloud‐system‐resolving global nonhydrostatic model without cumulus parameterization focussing particulaly on the relationship between clouds and circulation, and their changes due to global warming. The decrease in fractional coverage of low clouds is key to evaluating cloud radiative effects, because changes in shortwave cloud radiative effects overwhelm those of longwave cloud radiative effects. Thus, improved evaluation of low clouds is important, even in high‐resolution climate simulations. An analysis of heat redistribution by explicitly computed clouds revealed that column‐integrated heating rate due to phase changes correlates highly with vertical velocity at the altitude corresponding to 500 hPa and is closely linked to column water vapor, similar to the present climate result. Using data from year 1 to year 5, the effective climate sensitivity was evaluated to be 3.6−3.7°C. Possible convective aggregation is also examined using an index of modified subsidence fraction and characteristic changes in the number of cold pools. Despite previous idealized‐planet simulations showing more aggregated tropical convection under warmer conditions, here we show a decrease in the subsidence fraction and an increase in the number of smaller cold pools, suggesting that it is possible to realize less convective organization with warming under real atmospheric conditions.

Observational Evidence for Two Modes of Coupling Between Sea Surface Temperatures, Tropospheric Temperature Profile, and Shortwave Cloud Radiative Effect in the Tropics

AbstractTropical average shortwave cloud radiative effect (SWCRE) anomalies observed by CERES/EBAF v4 are explained by observed average sea surface temperature ( ) and the difference between the warmest 30% where deep convection occurs and ). Observed tropospheric temperatures show variations in boundary layer capping strength over time consistent with the evolution of SST#. The CERES/EBAF v4 data confirm that associated cloud fraction changes over the colder waters dominate SWCRE. This observational evidence for the “pattern effect” noted in General Circulation Model simulations suggests that SST# captures much of this effect. The observed sensitivities (dSWCRE/d W·m−2·K−1, dSWCRE/dSST#≈−4.8W·m−2·K−1) largely reflect El Niño–Southern Oscillation. As El Niño develops, increases and SST# decreases (both increasing SWCRE). Only after the El Niño peak, SST# increases and SWCRE decreases. SST# is also relevant for the tropical temperature trend profile controversy and the discrepancy between observed and modeled equatorial Pacific SST trends. Causality and implications for future climates are discussed.

Performance of CAMS-CSM in Simulating the Shortwave Cloud Radiative Effect over Global Stratus Cloud Regions: Baseline Evaluation and Sensitivity Test

The ability of climate models to correctly reproduce clouds and the radiative effects of clouds is vitally important in climate simulations and projections. In this study, simulations of the shortwave cloud radiative effect (SWCRE) using the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences Climate System Model (CAMS-CSM) are evaluated. The relationships between SWCRE and dynamic–thermodynamic regimes are examined to understand whether the model can simulate realistic processes that are responsible for the generation and maintenance of stratus clouds. Over eastern China, CAMS-CSM well simulates the SWCRE climatological state and stratus cloud distribution. The model captures the strong dependence of SWCRE on the dynamic conditions. Over the marine boundary layer regions, the simulated SWCRE magnitude is weaker than that in the observations due to the lack of low-level stratus clouds in the model. The model fails to simulate the close relationship between SWCRE and local stability over these regions. A sensitivity numerical experiment using a specifically designed parameterization scheme for the stratocumulus cloud cover confirms this assertion. Parameterization schemes that directly depict the relationship between the stratus cloud amount and stability are beneficial for improving the model performance.

Examining Southern Ocean Cloud Controlling Factors on Daily Time Scales and Their Connections to Midlatitude Weather Systems

ABSTRACTClouds and their associated radiative effects are a large source of uncertainty in global climate models. One region with particularly large model biases in shortwave cloud radiative effects (CRE) is the Southern Ocean. Previous research has shown that many dynamical “cloud controlling factors” influence shortwave CRE on monthly time scales and that two important cloud controlling factors over the Southern Ocean are midtropospheric vertical velocity and estimated inversion strength (EIS). Model errors may thus arise from biases in representing cloud controlling factors (atmospheric dynamics) or in representing how clouds respond to those cloud controlling factors (cloud parameterizations), or some combination thereof. This study extends previous work by examining cloud controlling factors over the Southern Ocean on daily time scales in both observations and global climate models. This allows the cloud controlling factors to be examined in the context of transient weather systems. Composites of EIS and midtropospheric vertical velocity are constructed around extratropical cyclones and anticyclones to examine how the different dynamical cloud controlling factors influence shortwave CRE around midlatitude weather systems and to assess how models compare to observations. On average, models tend to produce a realistic cyclone and anticyclone, when compared to observations, in terms of the dynamical cloud controlling factors. The difference between observations and models instead lies in how the models’ shortwave CRE respond to the dynamics. In particular, the models’ shortwave CRE are too sensitive to perturbations in midtropospheric vertical velocity and, thus, they tend to produce clouds that excessively brighten in the frontal region of the cyclone and excessively dim in the center of the anticyclone.

Shortwave Spectral Radiative Signatures and Their Physical Controls

AbstractThe spectrum of reflected solar radiation emerging at the top of the atmosphere is rich with Earth system information. To identify spectral signatures in the reflected solar radiation and directly relate them to the underlying physical properties controlling their structure, over 90 000 solar reflectance spectra are computed over West Africa in 2010 using a fast radiation code employing the spectral characteristics of the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY). Cluster analysis applied to the computed spectra reveals spectral signatures related to distinct surface properties, and cloud regimes distinguished by their spectral shortwave cloud radiative effect (SWCRE). The cloud regimes exhibit a diverse variety of mean broadband SWCREs, and offer an alternative approach to define cloud type for SWCRE applications that does not require any prior assumptions. The direct link between spectral signatures and distinct physical properties extracted from clustering remains robust between spatial scales of 1, 20, and 240 km, and presents an excellent opportunity to understand the underlying properties controlling real spectral reflectance observations. Observed SCIAMACHY spectra are assigned to the calculated spectral clusters, showing that cloud regimes are most frequent during the active West African monsoon season of June–October in 2010, and all cloud regimes have a higher frequency of occurrence during the active monsoon season of 2003 compared with the inactive monsoon season of 2004. Overall, the distinct underlying physical properties controlling spectral signatures show great promise for monitoring evolution of the Earth system directly from solar spectral reflectance observations.

Persistent Spring Shortwave Cloud Radiative Effect and the Associated Circulations over Southeastern China

AbstractClouds strongly modulate regional radiation balance and their evolution is profoundly influenced by circulations. This study uses 2001–16 satellite and reanalysis data together with regional model simulations to investigate the spring shortwave cloud radiative effect (SWCRE) and the associated circulations over southeastern China (SEC). Strong SWCRE, up to −110 W m−2, persists throughout springtime in this region and its spring mean is the largest among the same latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. SWCRE exhibits pronounced subseasonal variation and is closely associated with persistent regional ascending motion and moisture convergence, which favor large amounts of cloud liquid water and resultant strong SWCRE. Around pentad 12 (late February), SWCRE abruptly increases and afterward remains stable between 22° and 32°N. The thermal and dynamic effects of Tibetan Plateau and westerly jet provide appropriate settings for the maintenance of ascending motion, while water vapor, as cloud water supply, stably comes from the southern flank of the Tibetan Plateau and South China Sea. During pentads 25–36 (early May to late June), SWCRE is further enhanced by the increased water vapor transport caused by the march of East Asian monsoon systems, particularly after the onset of the South China Sea monsoon. After pentad 36, these circulations quickly weaken and the SWCRE decreases accordingly. Individual years with spring strong and weak rainfall are chosen to highlight the importance of the strength of the ascending motion. The simulation broadly reproduced the observed results, although biases exist. Finally, the model biases in SWCRE–circulation associations are discussed.

Background Conditions Influence the Estimated Cloud Radiative Effects of Anthropogenic Aerosol Emissions From Different Source Regions

AbstractUsing the Community Earth System Model, with the Community Atmosphere Model version 5.3, we investigate the cloud radiative effects of anthropogenic aerosols emitted from different source regions and global shipping. We also analyze aerosol burdens, cloud condensation nuclei concentration, liquid water path, and ice water path. Due to transboundary transport and sublinearity in the response of clouds to aerosols, the cloud radiative effects of emissions from a given source region are influenced by emissions from other source regions. For example, the shortwave cloud radiative effect of shipping is −0.39 ± 0.03 W/m2 when other anthropogenic emissions sources are present (the “present‐day background” assumption) compared with −0.60 ± 0.03 W/m2 when other anthropogenic emissions sources are absent (the “natural background” assumption). In general, the cloud radiative effects are weaker if present‐day background conditions are assumed compared with if natural background conditions are assumed. Assumptions about background conditions should be carefully considered when investigating the climate impacts of aerosol emissions from a given source region.