scholarly journals On the Contribution of Longwave Radiation to Global Climate Model Biases in Arctic Lower Tropospheric Stability

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (19) ◽  
pp. 7250-7269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil P. Barton ◽  
Stephen A. Klein ◽  
James S. Boyle
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Longwave Radiation ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Polar Night ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Lower Tropospheric Stability ◽  
Downwelling Longwave Radiation

Abstract Previous research has found that global climate models (GCMs) usually simulate greater lower tropospheric stabilities compared to reanalysis data. To understand the origins of this bias, the authors examine hindcast simulations initialized with reanalysis data of six GCMs and find that four of the six models simulate within five days a positive bias in Arctic lower tropospheric stability during the Arctic polar night over sea ice regions. These biases in lower tropospheric stability are mainly due to cold biases in surface temperature, as very small potential temperature biases exist aloft. Similar to previous research, polar night surface temperature biases in the hindcast runs relate to all-sky downwelling longwave radiation in the models, which very much relates to the cloud liquid water. Also found herein are clear-sky longwave radiation biases and a fairly large clear-sky longwave radiation bias in the day one hindcast. This clear-sky longwave bias is analyzed by running the same radiation transfer model for each model’s temperature and moisture profile, and the model spread in clear-sky downwelling longwave radiation with the same radiative transfer model is found to be much less, suggesting that model differences other than temperature and moisture are aiding in the spread in downwelling longwave radiation. The six models were also analyzed in Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) mode to determine if hindcast simulations are analogous to free-running simulations. Similar winter lower tropospheric stability biases occur in four of the six models with surface temperature biases relating to the winter lower tropospheric stability values.

scholarly journals Modeling the Downwelling Longwave Radiation over a Groomed Ski Run under Clear Skies

2013 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 1540-1553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosie Howard ◽  
Roland Stull
Keyword(s):  
Longwave Radiation ◽  
Liquid Water Content ◽  
Surface Radiation ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Surface Radiation Budget ◽  
Flux Model ◽  
Downwelling Longwave Radiation

AbstractThe surface radiation budget of a groomed ski run is important to ski racing. Variables such as snow-surface temperature and liquid water content depend upon the surface radiation budget and are crucial to preparing fast skis. This case study focuses on downwelling longwave radiation, measurements of which were made at a point on a ski run on Whistler Mountain, British Columbia, Canada, throughout a 5-day clear-sky intensive observation period. Tall trees often dominate the horizon of a point on a ski run, and so contributions to total downwelling longwave radiation from trees and sky were treated separately. The “LWRAD” longwave radiative flux model estimated the total downwelling longwave radiation by first calculating thermal contributions from the trees, incorporating regressions for tree temperature that use routine meteorological measurements. Contributions from each azimuth direction were determined with horizon-elevation angles from a theodolite survey. Thermal emissions were weighted accordingly and summed. Sky contributions were estimated using the “libRadtran” radiative transfer model with input of local atmospheric profiles of temperature and humidity and were added to tree emissions. Two clear-sky emissivity parameterizations using screen-height measurements were tested for comparison. LWRAD total downwelling longwave radiation varies between 235 and 265 W m−2 and compares well to measurements, with correlation coefficient squared (r2) of 0.96. These results can be used to improve estimates of downwelling longwave radiation for a groomed ski run.

scholarly journals Interannual Variability and Trends in Sea Surface Temperature, Lower and Middle Atmosphere Temperature at Different Latitudes for 1980–2019

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 454
Author(s):  
Andrew R. Jakovlev ◽  
Sergei P. Smyshlyaev ◽  
Vener Y. Galin
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Middle Atmosphere ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Impact

The influence of sea-surface temperature (SST) on the lower troposphere and lower stratosphere temperature in the tropical, middle, and polar latitudes is studied for 1980–2019 based on the MERRA2, ERA5, and Met Office reanalysis data, and numerical modeling with a chemistry-climate model (CCM) of the lower and middle atmosphere. The variability of SST is analyzed according to Met Office and ERA5 data, while the variability of atmospheric temperature is investigated according to MERRA2 and ERA5 data. Analysis of sea surface temperature trends based on reanalysis data revealed that a significant positive SST trend of about 0.1 degrees per decade is observed over the globe. In the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, the trend (about 0.2 degrees per decade) is 2 times higher than the global average, and 5 times higher than in the Southern Hemisphere (about 0.04 degrees per decade). At polar latitudes, opposite SST trends are observed in the Arctic (positive) and Antarctic (negative). The impact of the El Niño Southern Oscillation phenomenon on the temperature of the lower and middle atmosphere in the middle and polar latitudes of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres is discussed. To assess the relative influence of SST, CO2, and other greenhouse gases’ variability on the temperature of the lower troposphere and lower stratosphere, numerical calculations with a CCM were performed for several scenarios of accounting for the SST and carbon dioxide variability. The results of numerical experiments with a CCM demonstrated that the influence of SST prevails in the troposphere, while for the stratosphere, an increase in the CO2 content plays the most important role.

Plot-scale retrieval of land surface temperature and emissivity estimation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gitanjali Thakur ◽  
Stan Schymanski ◽  
Kaniska Mallick ◽  
Ivonne Trebs
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Land Surface Temperature ◽  
Satellite Data ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Longwave Radiation ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Downwelling Longwave Radiation

<p>The surface energy balance (SEB) is defined as the balance between incoming energy from the sun and outgoing energy from the Earth’s surface. All components of the SEB depend on land surface temperature (LST). Therefore, LST is an important state variable that controls the energy and water exchange between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere. LST can be estimated radiometrically, based on the infrared radiance emanating from the surface. At the landscape scale, LST is derived from thermal radiation measured using  satellites.  At the plot scale, eddy covariance flux towers commonly record downwelling and upwelling longwave radiation, which can be inverted to retrieve LST  using the grey body equation :<br>             R<sub>lup</sub> = εσ T<sub>s</sub><sup>4</sup> + (1 − ε) R<sub> ldw         </sub>(1)<br>where R<sub>lup</sub> is the upwelling longwave radiation, R<sub>ldw</sub> is the downwelling longwave radiation, ε is the surface emissivity, <em>T<sub>s</sub>  </em>is the surface temperature and σ  is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. The first term is the temperature-dependent part, while the second represents reflected longwave radiation. Since in the past downwelling longwave radiation was not measured routinely using flux towers, it is an established practice to only use upwelling longwave radiation for the retrieval of plot-scale LST, essentially neglecting the reflected part and shortening Eq. 1 to:<br>               R<sub>lup</sub> = εσ T<sub>s</sub><sup>4 </sup>                       (2)<br>Despite  widespread availability of downwelling longwave radiation measurements, it is still common to use the short equation (Eq. 2) for in-situ LST retrieval. This prompts the question if ignoring the downwelling longwave radiation introduces a bias in LST estimations from tower measurements. Another associated question is how to obtain the correct ε needed for in-situ LST retrievals using tower-based measurements.<br>The current work addresses these two important science questions using observed fluxes at eddy covariance towers for different land cover types. Additionally, uncertainty in retrieved LST and emissivity due to uncertainty in input fluxes was quantified using SOBOL-based uncertainty analysis (SALib). Using landscape-scale emissivity obtained from satellite data (MODIS), we found that the LST  obtained using the complete equation (Eq. 1) is 0.5 to 1.5 K lower than the short equation (Eq. 2). Also, plot-scale emissivity was estimated using observed sensible heat flux and surface-air temperature differences. Plot-scale emissivity obtained using the complete equation was generally between 0.8 to 0.98 while the short equation gave values between 0.9 to 0.98, for all land cover types. Despite additional input data for the complete equation, the uncertainty in plot-scale LST was not greater than if the short equation was used. Landscape-scale daytime LST obtained from satellite data (MODIS TERRA) were strongly correlated with our plot-scale estimates, but on average higher by 0.5 to 9 K, regardless of the equation used. However, for most sites, the correspondence between MODIS TERRA LST and retrieved plot-scale LST estimates increased significantly if plot-scale emissivity was used instead of the landscape-scale emissivity obtained from satellite data.</p>

Does Surface Temperature Respond to or Determine Downwelling Longwave Radiation?

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 2781-2789 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Vargas Zeppetello ◽  
A. Donohoe ◽  
D. S. Battisti
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Longwave Radiation ◽  
Downwelling Longwave Radiation

scholarly journals Arctic surface temperatures from Metop AVHRR compared to in situ ocean and land data

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1009-1043 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Dybkjær ◽  
R. Tonboe ◽  
J. Høyer
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Temperature Data ◽  
Coupled Systems ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
In Situ Observation ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Ice Surface Temperature

Abstract. The ice surface temperature (IST) is an important boundary condition for both atmospheric and ocean and sea ice models and for coupled systems. An operational ice surface temperature product using satellite Metop AVHRR infra-red data was developed for MyOcean. The IST can be mapped in clear sky regions using a split window algorithm specially tuned for sea ice. Clear sky conditions are prevailing during spring in the Arctic while persistent cloud cover limits data coverage during summer. The cloud covered regions are detected using the EUMETSAT cloud mask. The Metop IST compares to 2 m temperature at the Greenland ice cap Summit within STD error of 3.14 °C and to Arctic drifting buoy temperature data within STD error of 3.69 °C. A case study reveal that the in situ radiometer data versus satellite IST STD error can be much lower (0.73 °C) and that the different in situ measures complicates the validation. Differences and variability between Metop IST and in situ data are analysed and discussed. An inter-comparison of Metop IST, numerical weather prediction temperatures and in situ observation indicates large biases between the different quantities. Because of the scarcity of conventional surface temperature or surface air temperature data in the Arctic the satellite IST data with its relatively good coverage can potentially add valuable information to model analysis for the Arctic atmosphere.

scholarly journals Global Clear-Sky Aerosol Speciated Direct Radiative Effects over 40 Years (1980–2019)

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1254
Author(s):  
Marios-Bruno Korras-Carraca ◽  
Antonis Gkikas ◽  
Christos Matsoukas ◽  
Nikolaos Hatzianastassiou
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Radiative Effect ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Carbon Aerosols ◽  
Aerosol Types

We assess the 40-year climatological clear-sky global direct radiative effect (DRE) of five main aerosol types using the MERRA-2 reanalysis and a spectral radiative transfer model (FORTH). The study takes advantage of aerosol-speciated, spectrally and vertically resolved optical properties over the period 1980–2019, to accurately determine the aerosol DREs, emphasizing the attribution of the total DREs to each aerosol type. The results show that aerosols radiatively cool the Earth’s surface and heat its atmosphere by 7.56 and 2.35 Wm−2, respectively, overall cooling the planet by 5.21 Wm−2, partly counterbalancing the anthropogenic greenhouse global warming during 1980–2019. These DRE values differ significantly in terms of magnitude, and even sign, among the aerosol types (sulfate and black carbon aerosols cool and heat the planet by 1.88 and 0.19 Wm−2, respectively), the hemispheres (larger NH than SH values), the surface cover type (larger land than ocean values) or the seasons (larger values in local spring and summer), while considerable inter-decadal changes are evident. These DRE differences are even larger by up to an order of magnitude on a regional scale, highlighting the important role of the aerosol direct radiative effect for local and global climate.

scholarly journals Deriving Arctic 2 m air temperatures over snow and ice from satellite surface temperature measurements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pia Nielsen-Englyst ◽  
Jacob L. Høyer ◽  
Kristine S. Madsen ◽  
Rasmus T. Tonboe ◽  
Gorm Dybkjær ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
In Situ Observations ◽  
The Arctic Region

Abstract. The Arctic region is responding heavily to climate change, and yet, the air temperature of ice covered areas in the Arctic is heavily under-sampled when it comes to in situ measurements, resulting in large uncertainties in existing weather- and reanalysis products. This paper presents a method for estimating daily mean clear sky 2 meter air temperatures (T2m) in the Arctic from satellite observations of skin temperature, using the Arctic and Antarctic ice Surface Temperatures from thermal Infrared (AASTI) satellite dataset, providing spatially detailed observations of the Arctic. The method is based on a linear regression model, which has been tuned against in situ observations to estimate daily mean T2m based on clear sky satellite ice surface skin temperatures. The daily satellite derived T2m product includes estimated uncertainties and covers clear sky snow and ice surfaces in the Arctic region during the period 2000–2009, provided on a 0.25 degree regular latitude-longitude grid. Comparisons with independent in situ measured T2m show average biases of 0.30 °C and 0.35 °C and average root mean square errors of 3.47 °C and 3.20 °C for land ice and sea ice, respectively. The associated uncertainties are verified to be very realistic for both land ice and sea ice, using in situ observations. The reconstruction provides a much better spatial coverage than the sparse in situ observations of T2m in the Arctic, is independent of numerical weather prediction model input and it therefore provides an important supplement to simulated air temperatures to be used for assimilation or global surface temperature reconstructions. A comparison between in situ T2m versus T2m derived from satellite and ERA-Interim/ERA5 estimates shows that the T2m derived from satellite observations validate similar or better than ERA-Interim/ERA5 in the Arctic.

scholarly journals Cloud Influence on ERA5 and AMPS Surface Downwelling Longwave Radiation Biases in West Antarctica

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (22) ◽  
pp. 7935-7949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Israel Silber ◽  
Johannes Verlinde ◽  
Sheng-Hung Wang ◽  
David H. Bromwich ◽  
Ann M. Fridlind ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Longwave Radiation ◽  
Surface Energy Budget ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Model Errors ◽  
Microphysics Scheme ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Radiation Component ◽  
West Antarctic ◽  
Downwelling Longwave Radiation ◽  
Sky Conditions

Abstract The surface downwelling longwave radiation component (LW↓) is crucial for the determination of the surface energy budget and has significant implications for the resilience of ice surfaces in the polar regions. Accurate model evaluation of this radiation component requires knowledge about the phase, vertical distribution, and associated temperature of water in the atmosphere, all of which control the LW↓ signal measured at the surface. In this study, we examine the LW↓ model errors found in the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) operational forecast model and the ERA5 model relative to observations from the ARM West Antarctic Radiation Experiment (AWARE) campaign at McMurdo Station and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide. The errors are calculated separately for observed clear-sky conditions, ice-cloud occurrences, and liquid-bearing cloud-layer (LBCL) occurrences. The analysis results show a tendency in both models at each site to underestimate the LW↓ during clear-sky conditions, high error variability (standard deviations > 20 W m−2) during any type of cloud occurrence, and negative LW↓ biases when LBCLs are observed (bias magnitudes >15 W m−2 in tenuous LBCL cases and >43 W m−2 in optically thick/opaque LBCLs instances). We suggest that a generally dry and liquid-deficient atmosphere responsible for the identified LW↓ biases in both models is the result of excessive ice formation and growth, which could stem from the model initial and lateral boundary conditions, microphysics scheme, aerosol representation, and/or limited vertical resolution.

scholarly journals Relationship of the Arctic and Antarctic Oscillations to the Outgoing Longwave Radiation

2003 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. 1583-1592 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Miller ◽  
S. Zhou ◽  
S-K. Yang
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
Outgoing Longwave Radiation ◽  
Longwave Radiation ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract While several mechanisms have been suggested to account for the association of the Arctic and Antarctic Oscillations (AO/AAO) with atmospheric parameters, this paper focuses on the relationship with the atmospheric outgoing longwave radiation (OLR). The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate through AO/AAO composite analysis that the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis OLR agrees with the independent observations of the NASA Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) broadband satellite instruments both in zonal averages and in geographically mapped space, and to verify AO/AAO characterized general circulations derived from models and analyses. The results indicate several pronounced areas of storminess that are AO/AAO dependent. One is the well-known variation over the North Atlantic Ocean toward Europe. Also, several major areas are indicated in the tropical region—one in the Indian Ocean and the others in the west and central Pacific Ocean. In addition to demonstrating that the signals are statistically significant, also tested is the relationship of the features to other well-known tropical forcing mechanisms: the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) and the El Niño–La Niña sea surface temperature variations. It is shown that the tropical features do, in fact, have a strong relationship to the MJO, which indicates an additional tropical–extratropical interaction. With regard to the sea surface temperature, no correlation associated with the AO/AAO variability is seen. These associations with the cloudiness and atmospheric radiation budget suggest that if there is to be improvement of numerical model forecasts to an extended time period that numerical model radiation physics will have to be taken into consideration and improved.

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