Albedo susceptibility of northeastern Pacific stratocumulus: the role of covarying meteorological conditions

Zhang, Jianhao; Zhou, Xiaoli; Goren, Tom; Feingold, Graham

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-861-2022

Articles | Volume 22, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-861-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-861-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 2

Research article

|

19 Jan 2022

Research article |

| 19 Jan 2022

Albedo susceptibility of northeastern Pacific stratocumulus: the role of covarying meteorological conditions

Jianhao Zhang, Xiaoli Zhou, Tom Goren, and Graham Feingold

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-861-2022-supplement

Data sets

CERES SSF data NASA (Langley Research Center) https://doi.org/10.5067/Aqua/CERES/SSF-FM4_L2.004A

ERA5 hourly data on pressure levels from 1979 to present, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS) H. Hersbach, B. Bell, P. Berrisford, G. Biavati, A. Horányi, J. Muñoz Sabater, J. Nicolas, C. Peubey, R. Radu, I. Rozum, D. Schepers, A. Simmons, C. Soci, D. Dee, and J-N. Thépaut https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.bd0915c6

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Short summary

Oceanic liquid-form clouds are effective sunlight reflectors. Their brightness is highly sensitive to changes in the amount of aerosol particles in the atmosphere and the state of the atmosphere they reside in. This study quantifies this sensitivity using long-term satellite observations and finds an overall cloud brightening (a cooling effect) potential and an essential role of the covarying meteorological conditions in governing this sensitivity for northeastern Pacific stratocumulus.