CLIMATE CHANGE Satellite data show water vapor increases CO warming

2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (51) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
ELIZABETH WILSON
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Satellite Data

scholarly journals Simplified climate modelling to size economic boundaries

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Anderl
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Translational Energy ◽  
Climate Modelling ◽  
Foreseeable Future ◽  
Natural Processes ◽  
Scientific Results ◽  
Public Demand

The broader public demand reproducibility of scientific results particularly related to hot societal topics. The present work applies the 80:20-rule to climate change, concentrating on the essentials from the readily observable and identifying the inherent relationships in their potential simplicity. Observations on 400 Mio. years of paleoclimate are found to well constrain the compound universal climate role of CO 2. Combined with observations on the industrial-era atmospheric CO 2 and ocean heat evolvement, climate risk assessment and projections on the economic boundaries are performed. Independently in conjunction with energy budget studies, simple models are presented for the fundamental natural processes related to: (i) water vapor and CO 2 effect on temperature; (ii) transient and equilibrium climate; (iii) heating from the V/R-T (vibrational/rotational to translational) energy transfer; (iv) Earth emissivity changing with surface temperature; (v) water vapor for Earths energy balance maintenance; (vi) rainfall pattern altering with temperature; (vii) natures reaction on the anthropogenic energy consumption. In conclusion, realistic estimates point at precluding positive economic growth for the foreseeable future if temperatures are to be given a reasonable chance to become sustainably contained within sensible limits.

scholarly journals Asian water tower evinced in total column water vapor: a comparison among multiple satellite and reanalysis data sets

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 231-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin Zhao ◽  
Tianjun Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Satellite Data ◽  
Annual Cycle ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Ensemble Mean ◽  
Asian Water ◽  
Total Column

Abstract The total column water vapor (TCWV) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is one important indicator of the Asian water tower, and the changes in the TCWV are vital to the climate and ecosystem in downstream regions. However, the observational data is insufficient to understand the changes in the TCWV due to the high elevation of the TP. Satellite and reanalysis data can be used as substitutes, but their quality needs to be evaluated. In this study, based on a homogenized radiosonde data set, a comprehensive evaluation of the TCWV over the TP derived from two satellite data sets (AIRS-only and AIRS/AMSU) and seven existing reanalysis data sets (MERRA, MERRA2, NCEP1, NCEP2, CFSR, ERA-I, JRA55) is performed in the context of the climatology, annual cycle and interannual variability. Both satellite data sets reasonably reproduce the characteristics of the TCWV over the TP. All reanalysis data sets perform well in reproducing the annual mean climatology of the TCWV over the TP (R = 0.99), except for NCEP1 (R = 0.96) and NCEP2 (R = 0.92). ERA-I is more reliable in capturing the spatial pattern of the annual cycle (R = 0.94), while NCEP1 shows the lowest skill (R = 0.72). JRA55 performs best in capturing the features of the interannual coherent variation (EOF1, R = 0.97). The skill-weighted ensemble mean of the reanalysis data performs better than the unweighted ensemble mean and most of the single reanalysis data sets. The evaluation provides essential information on both the strengths and weaknesses of the major satellite and reanalysis data sets in measuring the total column water vapor over the TP.

scholarly journals Altitude misestimation caused by the Vaisala RS80 pressure bias and its impact on meteorological profiles

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 4043-4054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Inai ◽  
M. Shiotani ◽  
M. Fujiwara ◽  
F. Hasebe ◽  
H. Vömel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Global Positioning System ◽  
Pressure Sensor ◽  
Vertical Gradient ◽  
Equatorial Region ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Global Positioning ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Height Data

Abstract. Previous research has found that conventional radiosondes equipped with a traditional pressure sensor can be subject to a pressure bias, particularly in the stratosphere. This study examines this pressure bias and the resulting altitude misestimation, and its impact on temperature, ozone, and water vapor profiles is considered using data obtained between December 2003 and January 2010 during the Soundings of Ozone and Water in the Equatorial Region (SOWER) campaigns. The payload consisted of a radiosonde (Vaisala RS80), ozone and water vapor sondes, and a global positioning system (GPS) sensor. More than 30 soundings are used in this study. As GPS height data are thought to be highly accurate, they can be used to calculate pressure. The RS80 pressure bias in the tropical stratosphere is estimated to be −0.4 ± 0.2 hPa (1σ) between 20 and 30 km. As this pressure bias is negative throughout the stratosphere, it leads to systematic overestimation of geopotential height by 43 ± 23, 110 ± 40, and 240 ± 92 m (1σ) at 20, 25, and 30 km, respectively when it is calculated by using the hypsometric equation. Because of the altitude overestimation, we see some offsets in observation parameters having a vertical gradient such as temperature, ozone, and water vapor. Those offsets in the meteorological soundings obtained using the RS80 may have generated an artificial trend in the meteorological records when radiosondes were changed from the RS80, which had no GPS unit, to the new ones with a GPS unit. Therefore, it is important to take those offsets into account in climate change studies.

scholarly journals Controls of Global-Mean Precipitation Increases in Global Warming GCM Experiments

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (23) ◽  
pp. 6141-6155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme L. Stephens ◽  
Todd D. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Energy Balance ◽  
Energy Loss ◽  
Radiative Heating ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Global Precipitation

Abstract This paper examines the controls on global precipitation that are evident in the transient experiments conducted using coupled climate models collected for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). The change in precipitation, water vapor, clouds, and radiative heating of the atmosphere evident in the 1% increase in carbon dioxide until doubled (1pctto2x) scenario is examined. As noted in other studies, the ensemble-mean changes in water vapor as carbon dioxide is doubled occur at a rate similar to that predicted by the Clausius–Clapeyron relationship. The ratio of global changes in precipitation to global changes in water vapor offers some insight on how readily increased water vapor is converted into precipitation in modeled climate change. This ratio ɛ is introduced in this paper as a gross indicator of the global precipitation efficiency under global warming. The main findings of this paper are threefold. First, increases in the global precipitation track increase atmospheric radiative energy loss and the ratio of precipitation sensitivity to water vapor sensitivity is primarily determined by changes to this atmospheric column energy loss. A reference limit to this ratio is introduced as the rate at which the emission of radiation from the clear-sky atmosphere increases as water vapor increases. It is shown that the derived efficiency based on the simple ratio of precipitation to water vapor sensitivities of models in fact closely matches the sensitivity derived from simple energy balance arguments involving changes to water vapor emission alone. Second, although the rate of increase of clear-sky emission is the dominant factor in the change to the energy balance of the atmosphere, there are two important and offsetting processes that contribute to ɛ in the model simulations studied: One involves a negative feedback through cloud radiative heating that acts to reduce the efficiency; the other is the global reduction in sensible heating that counteracts the effects of the cloud feedback and increases the efficiency. These counteracting feedbacks only apply on the global scale. Third, the negative cloud radiative heating feedback occurs through reductions of cloud amount in the middle troposphere, defined as the layer between 680 and 440 hPa, and by slight global cloud decreases in the lower troposphere. These changes act in a manner to expose the warmer atmosphere below to high clouds, thus resulting in a net warming of the atmospheric column by clouds and a negative feedback on the precipitation.

scholarly journals The relationship between tropospheric wave forcing and tropical lower stratospheric water vapor

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Dhomse ◽  
M. Weber ◽  
J. Burrows
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Satellite Data ◽  
Planetary Wave ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Stratospheric Water Vapor ◽  
Average Decrease ◽  
Eddy Heat Flux ◽  
Sudden Decrease ◽  
Cold Point

Abstract. Using water vapor data from HALOE and SAGE II, an anti-correlation between planetary wave driving (here expressed by the mid-latitude eddy heat flux at 50 hPa added from both hemispheres) and tropical lower stratospheric (TLS) water vapor has been obtained. This appears to be a manifestation of the inter-annual variability of the Brewer-Dobson (BD) circulation strength (the driving of which is generally measured in terms of the mid-latitude eddy heat flux), and hence amount of water vapor entering the stratosphere. Some years such as 1991 and 1997 show, however, a clear departure from the anti-correlation which suggests that the water vapor changes in TLS can not be attributed solely to changes in extratropical planetary wave activity (and its effect on the BD circulation). After 2000 a sudden decrease in lower stratospheric water vapor has been reported in earlier studies based upon satellite data from HALOE, SAGE II and POAM III indicating that the lower stratosphere has become drier since then. This is consistent with a sudden rise in the combined mid-latitude eddy heat flux with nearly equal contribution from both hemispheres as shown here and with the increase in tropical upwelling and decrease in cold point temperatures found by Randel et al. (2006). The low water vapor and enhanced planetary wave activity (in turn strength of the BD circulation) has persisted until the end of the satellite data records. From a multi-variate regression analysis applied to 27 years of NCEP and HadAT2 (radiosonde) temperatures (up to 2005) with contributions from solar cycle, stratospheric aerosols and QBO removed, the enhancement wave driving after 2000 is estimated to contribute up to 0.7 K cooling to the overall TLS temperature change during the period 2001–2005 when compared to the period 1996–2000. NCEP cold point temperature show an average decrease of nearly 0.4 K from changes in the wave driving, which is consistent with observed mean TLS water vapor changes of about −0.2 ppm after 2000.

scholarly journals Fighting Fire with Satellite Data

Eos ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Witman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Satellite Data

As climate change worsens wildfire impact, scientists use satellites to study climate-fire interactions.

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