Articles | Volume 24, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10567-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10567-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
23 Sep 2024
Research article |
| 23 Sep 2024
| 23 Sep 2024
The impact of coupled 3D shortwave radiative transfer on surface radiation and cumulus clouds over land
Meteorology and Air Quality Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Bart J. H. van Stratum
Meteorology and Air Quality Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Chiel C. van Heerwaarden
Meteorology and Air Quality Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
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Mary Rose Mangan, Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, Bart J. H. van Stratum, Marie Lothon, Guylaine Canut-Rocafort, and Oscar K. Hartogensis
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3000, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3000, 2024
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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Using observations and high-resolution turbulence modeling, we examine the influence of irrigation-driven surface heterogeneity on the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). We employ different spatial scales of heterogeneity to explore how the influence of surface heterogeneity on the ABL within a single grid cell would change in higher resolution global models. We find that the height of the ABL is highly variable, and that the surface heterogeneity is felt least strongly in the middle of the ABL.
Job I. Wiltink, Hartwig Deneke, Yves-Marie Saint-Drenan, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, and Jan Fokke Meirink
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6003–6024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6003-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6003-2024, 2024
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Meteosat Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) global horizontal irradiance (GHI) retrievals are validated at standard and increased spatial resolution against a network of 99 pyranometers. GHI accuracy is strongly dependent on the cloud regime. Days with variable cloud conditions show significant accuracy improvements when retrieved at higher resolution. We highlight the benefits of dense network observations and a cloud-regime-resolved approach in validating GHI retrievals.
Wouter Mol and Chiel van Heerwaarden
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2396, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2396, 2024
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Sunlight varies often and quickly under broken cloud cover, and every cloud field creates a unique pattern of sunlight on the surface below. These variations affect many processes in the Earth system, from photosynthesis and chemistry, to cloud formation itself. The exact way in which cloud particles interact with sunlight is complex and expensive to calculate. We demonstrate a simplified framework which explains how sunlight changes for potentially any cloud field.
Maarten Krol, Bart van Stratum, Isidora Anglou, and Klaas Folkert Boersma
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8243–8262, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8243-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8243-2024, 2024
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This paper presents detailed plume simulations of nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide that are emitted from four large industrial facilities world-wide. Results from the high-resolution simulations that include atmospheric chemistry are compared to nitrogen dioxide observations from satellites. We find good performance of the model and show that common assumptions that are used in simplified models need revision. This work is important for the monitoring of emissions using satellite data.
Bert G. Heusinkveld, Wouter B. Mol, and Chiel C. van Heerwaarden
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3767–3785, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3767-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3767-2023, 2023
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This paper presents a new instrument for fast measurements of solar irradiance in 18 wavebands (400–950 nm): GPS perfectly synchronizes 10 Hz measurement speed to universal time, low-cost (< EUR 200) complete standalone solution for realizing dense measurement grids to study cloud-shading dynamics, 940 nm waveband reveals atmospheric moisture column information, 11 wavebands to study photosynthetic active radiation and light interaction with vegetation, and good reflection spectra performance.
Wouter B. Mol, Wouter H. Knap, and Chiel C. van Heerwaarden
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2139–2151, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2139-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2139-2023, 2023
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We describe a dataset of detailed measurements of sunlight reaching the surface, recorded at a rate of one measurement per second for 10 years. The dataset includes detailed information on direct and scattered sunlight; classifications and statistics of variability; and observations of clouds, atmospheric composition, and wind. The dataset can be used to study how the atmosphere influences sunlight variability and to validate models that aim to predict this variability with greater accuracy.
Luuk D. van der Valk, Adriaan J. Teuling, Luc Girod, Norbert Pirk, Robin Stoffer, and Chiel C. van Heerwaarden
The Cryosphere, 16, 4319–4341, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4319-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-4319-2022, 2022
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Most large-scale hydrological and climate models struggle to capture the spatially highly variable wind-driven melt of patchy snow cover. In the field, we find that 60 %–80 % of the total melt is wind driven at the upwind edge of a snow patch, while it does not contribute at the downwind edge. Our idealized simulations show that the variation is due to a patch-size-independent air-temperature reduction over snow patches and also allow us to study the role of wind-driven snowmelt on larger scales.
Anja Ražnjević, Chiel van Heerwaarden, and Maarten Krol
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3611–3628, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3611-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3611-2022, 2022
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We evaluate two widely used observational techniques (Other Test Method (OTM) 33A and car drive-bys) that estimate point source gas emissions. We performed our analysis on high-resolution plume dispersion simulation. For car drive-bys we found that at least 15 repeated measurements were needed to get within 40 % of the true emissions. OTM 33A produced large errors in estimation (50 %–200 %) due to its sensitivity to dispersion coefficients and underlying simplifying assumptions.
Anja Ražnjević, Chiel van Heerwaarden, Bart van Stratum, Arjan Hensen, Ilona Velzeboer, Pim van den Bulk, and Maarten Krol
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 6489–6505, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6489-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6489-2022, 2022
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Mobile measurement techniques (e.g., instruments placed in cars) are often employed to identify and quantify individual sources of greenhouse gases. Due to road restrictions, those observations are often sparse (temporally and spatially). We performed high-resolution simulations of plume dispersion, with realistic weather conditions encountered in the field, to reproduce the measurement process of a methane plume emitted from an oil well and provide additional information about the plume.
Robin Stoffer, Caspar M. van Leeuwen, Damian Podareanu, Valeriu Codreanu, Menno A. Veerman, Martin Janssens, Oscar K. Hartogensis, and Chiel C. van Heerwaarden
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 3769–3788, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3769-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-3769-2021, 2021
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Turbulent flows are often simulated with the large-eddy simulation (LES) technique, which requires subgrid models to account for the smallest scales. Current subgrid models often require strong simplifying assumptions. We therefore developed a subgrid model based on artificial neural networks, which requires fewer assumptions. Our data-driven SGS model showed high potential in accurately representing the smallest scales but still introduced instability when incorporated into an actual LES.
Pleun N. J. Bonekamp, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, Jakob F. Steiner, and Walter W. Immerzeel
The Cryosphere, 14, 1611–1632, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1611-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1611-2020, 2020
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Drivers controlling melt of debris-covered glaciers are largely unknown. With a 3D turbulence-resolving model the impact of surface properties of debris on micrometeorological variables and the conductive heat flux is shown. Also, we show ice cliffs are local melt hot spots and that turbulent fluxes and local heat advection amplify spatial heterogeneity on the surface.This work is important for glacier mass balance modelling and for the understanding of the evolution of debris-covered glaciers.
Hendrik Wouters, Irina Y. Petrova, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, Adriaan J. Teuling, Vicky Meulenberg, Joseph A. Santanello, and Diego G. Miralles
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 2139–2153, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-2139-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-2139-2019, 2019
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The free software CLASS4GL (http://class4gl.eu) is designed to investigate the dynamic atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) with weather balloons. It mines observational data from global radio soundings, satellite and reanalysis data from the last 40 years to constrain and initialize an ABL model and automizes multiple experiments in parallel. CLASS4GL aims at fostering a better understanding of land–atmosphere feedbacks and the drivers of extreme weather.
Imme Benedict, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, Albrecht H. Weerts, and Wilco Hazeleger
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 1779–1800, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1779-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1779-2019, 2019
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The spatial resolution of global climate models (GCMs) and global hydrological models (GHMs) is increasing. This model study examines the benefits of a very high-resolution GCM and GHM in representing the hydrological cycle in the Rhine and Mississippi basins. We find that a higher-resolution GCM results in an improved precipitation budget, and therefore an improved hydrological cycle for the Rhine. For the Mississippi, no substantial improvements are found with increased resolution.
Irina Y. Petrova, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, Cathy Hohenegger, and Françoise Guichard
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3275–3294, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3275-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-3275-2018, 2018
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In North Africa rain storms can be as vital as they are devastating. The present study uses multi-year satellite data to better understand how and where soil moisture conditions affect development of rainfall in the area. Our results reveal two major regions in the southwest and southeast, where drier soils show higher potential to cause rainfall development. This knowledge is essential for the hydrological sector, and can be further used by models to improve prediction of rainfall and droughts.
Imme Benedict, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, Albrecht H. Weerts, and Wilco Hazeleger
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-473, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2017-473, 2017
Revised manuscript not accepted
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The spatial resolution of global climate models (GCMs) and global hydrological models (GHMs) is increasing. This study examines the benefits of a very high resolution GCM and GHM on representing the hydrological cycle in the Rhine and Mississippi basin. We conclude that increasing the resolution of a GCM is the most straightforward route to better precipitation and thereby discharge results, although this is depending on the climatic drivers of the basin.
Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, Bart J. H. van Stratum, Thijs Heus, Jeremy A. Gibbs, Evgeni Fedorovich, and Juan Pedro Mellado
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 3145–3165, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3145-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3145-2017, 2017
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MicroHH (www.microhh.org) is a new and open-source computational fluid dynamics code for the simulation of turbulent flows in the atmosphere. It is made to simulate atmospheric flows up to the finest detail levels at very high resolution. It has been designed from scratch in C++ in order to use a modern design that allows the code to run on more than 10 000 cores, as well as on a graphical processing unit.
Related subject area
Subject: Radiation | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Combining observations and simulations to investigate the small-scale variability of surface solar irradiance under continental cumulus clouds
Atmospheric cloud-radiative heating in CMIP6 and observations and its response to surface warming
Trends in observed surface solar radiation and their causes in Brazil in the first 2 decades of the 21st century
Modeling study of the snow darkening effect by black carbon deposition over the Arctic during the melting period
A sensitivity study on radiative effects due to the parameterization of dust optical properties in models
Uncertainties in cloud-radiative heating within an idealized extratropical cyclone
Influence of cloudy/clear-sky partitions, aerosols and geometry on the recent variability of surface solar irradiance's components in northern France
Evaluation of downward and upward solar irradiances simulated by the Integrated Forecasting System of ECMWF using airborne observations above Arctic low-level clouds
On the calculation of single-scattering properties of frozen droplets and frozen droplet aggregates observed in deep convective clouds
Radiative Examination of Developing African Easterly Waves and Saharan Dust Interactions: Comparative Insights from Reanalysis and NASA Airborne Observations
A colorful look at climate sensitivity
Sensitivity of cirrus and contrail radiative effect on cloud microphysical and environmental parameters
Evaluation of liquid cloud albedo susceptibility in E3SM using coupled eastern North Atlantic surface and satellite retrievals
Constraints on simulated past Arctic amplification and lapse rate feedback from observations
Comparison of methods to estimate aerosol effective radiative forcings in climate models
Montreal Protocol's impact on the ozone layer and climate
Opinion: The scientific and community-building roles of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) – past, present, and future
Impacts of reductions in non-methane short-lived climate forcers on future climate extremes and the resulting population exposure risks in eastern and southern Asia
Investigating the radiative effect of Arctic cirrus measured in situ during the winter 2015–2016
Dependence of strategic solar climate intervention on background scenario and model physics
Combining short-range dispersion simulations with fine-scale meteorological ensembles: probabilistic indicators and evaluation during a 85Kr field campaign
Climate consequences of hydrogen emissions
Investigating the impact of Saharan dust aerosols on analyses and forecasts of African easterly waves by constraining aerosol effects in radiance data assimilation
Distinct surface response to black carbon aerosols
Estimating the potential cooling effect of cirrus thinning achieved via the seeding approach
Impacts of multi-layer overlap on contrail radiative forcing
Bias in CMIP6 models as compared to observed regional dimming and brightening
A test of the ability of current bulk optical models to represent the radiative properties of cirrus cloud across the mid- and far-infrared
The incorporation of the Tripleclouds concept into the δ-Eddington two-stream radiation scheme: solver characterization and its application to shallow cumulus clouds
Radiative heating rate profiles over the southeast Atlantic Ocean during the 2016 and 2017 biomass burning seasons
Effective radiative forcing and adjustments in CMIP6 models
Response of surface shortwave cloud radiative effect to greenhouse gases and aerosols and its impact on summer maximum temperature
Combining atmospheric and snow radiative transfer models to assess the solar radiative effects of black carbon in the Arctic
Accurate 3-D radiative transfer simulation of spectral solar irradiance during the total solar eclipse of 21 August 2017
Quantifying the bias of radiative heating rates in numerical weather prediction models for shallow cumulus clouds
The climate effects of increasing ocean albedo: an idealized representation of solar geoengineering
Changes in clouds and thermodynamics under solar geoengineering and implications for required solar reduction
Radiative impact of an extreme Arctic biomass-burning event
Contrails and their impact on shortwave radiation and photovoltaic power production – a regional model study
The influence of internal variability on Earth's energy balance framework and implications for estimating climate sensitivity
Insights into the diurnal cycle of global Earth outgoing radiation using a numerical weather prediction model
Determining the infrared radiative effects of Saharan dust: a radiative transfer modelling study based on vertically resolved measurements at Lampedusa
The early summertime Saharan heat low: sensitivity of the radiation budget and atmospheric heating to water vapour and dust aerosol
The role of 1-D and 3-D radiative heating in the organization of shallow cumulus convection and the formation of cloud streets
Modeling the erythemal surface diffuse irradiance fraction for Badajoz, Spain
Disk and circumsolar radiances in the presence of ice clouds
Effects of 3-D thermal radiation on the development of a shallow cumulus cloud field
Regional and seasonal radiative forcing by perturbations to aerosol and ozone precursor emissions
The spectral signature of cloud spatial structure in shortwave irradiance
Effects of urban agglomeration on surface-UV doses: a comparison of Brewer measurements in Warsaw and Belsk, Poland, for the period 2013–2015
Zili He, Quentin Libois, Najda Villefranque, Hartwig Deneke, Jonas Witthuhn, and Fleur Couvreux
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11391–11408, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11391-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11391-2024, 2024
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This study uses observations and simulations to analyze how cumulus clouds affect spacial solar radiation variability on the ground. Results show that the simulations reproduce the observations well and improve understanding of cloud impacts on radiation. The research also indicates that a few strategically placed sensors, capitalizing on measurement timing, can effectively measure these variations, aiding in the development of detailed weather prediction models.
Aiko Voigt, Stefanie North, Blaž Gasparini, and Seung-Hee Ham
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9749–9775, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9749-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9749-2024, 2024
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Clouds shape weather and climate by interacting with photons, which changes temperatures within the atmosphere. We assess how well CMIP6 climate models capture this radiative heating by clouds within the atmosphere. While we find large differences among models, especially in cold regions of the atmosphere with abundant ice clouds, we also demonstrate that physical understanding allows us to predict the response of clouds and their radiative heating near the tropopause to climate change.
Lucas Ferreira Correa, Doris Folini, Boriana Chtirkova, and Martin Wild
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8797–8819, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8797-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8797-2024, 2024
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We investigated the causes of the decadal trends of solar radiation measured at 34 stations in Brazil in the first 2 decades of the 21st century. We observed strong negative trends in north and northeast Brazil associated with changes in both atmospheric absorption (anthropogenic) and cloud cover (natural). In other parts of the country no strong trends were observed as a result of competing effects. This provides a better understanding of the energy balance in the region.
Zilu Zhang, Libo Zhou, and Meigen Zhang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1717, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1717, 2024
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By integrating the SNICAR model with Polar-WRF we find that 50 ng g-1 black carbon (BC) deposition decreases snow albedo, increasing radiative forcing (RF) by 1–4 W m-2, especially in Greenland, Baffin Island, and East Siberia. The impact is strongly linked to BC mass, with deep snowpacks showing greater sensitivity. Snow melt and land‒atmosphere interactions are crucial. High-resolution modeling is necessary to better understand these effects on Arctic climate change.
Ilias Fountoulakis, Alexandra Tsekeri, Stelios Kazadzis, Vassilis Amiridis, Angelos Nersesian, Maria Tsichla, Emmanouil Proestakis, Antonis Gkikas, Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Vasileios Barlakas, Claudia Emde, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4915–4948, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4915-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4915-2024, 2024
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In our study we provide an assessment, through a sensitivity study, of the limitations of models to calculate the dust direct radiative effect (DRE) due to the underrepresentation of its size, refractive index (RI), and shape. Our results indicate the necessity of including more realistic sizes and RIs for dust particles in dust models, in order to derive better estimations of the dust direct radiative effects.
Behrooz Keshtgar, Aiko Voigt, Bernhard Mayer, and Corinna Hoose
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4751–4769, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4751-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4751-2024, 2024
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Cloud-radiative heating (CRH) affects extratropical cyclones but is uncertain in weather and climate models. We provide a framework to quantify uncertainties in CRH within an extratropical cyclone due to four factors and show that the parameterization of ice optical properties contributes significantly to uncertainty in CRH. We also argue that ice optical properties, by affecting CRH on spatial scales of 100 km, are relevant for the large-scale dynamics of extratropical cyclones.
Gabriel Chesnoiu, Nicolas Ferlay, Isabelle Chiapello, Frédérique Auriol, Diane Catalfamo, Mathieu Compiègne, Thierry Elias, and Isabelle Jankowiak
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-767, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-767, 2024
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The measured ground based surface solar irradiance’s variability and its sensitivity to scene’s parameters is analysed with a filtering of sky conditions at a given site. Its multivariate analysis applied to observed trends over 2010–2022 or record value shows, in addition to the dominant effects of cloud occurrences, the variable effects of aerosol and geometry. Clear-sun with cloud situations are highlighted with SSI’s level close to those in aerosol and cloud-free situations.
Hanno Müller, André Ehrlich, Evelyn Jäkel, Johannes Röttenbacher, Benjamin Kirbus, Michael Schäfer, Robin J. Hogan, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4157–4175, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4157-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4157-2024, 2024
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A weather model is used to compare solar radiation with measurements from an aircraft campaign in the Arctic. Model and observations agree on the downward radiation but show differences in the radiation reflected by the surface and the clouds, which in the model is too low above sea ice and too high above open ocean. The model–observation bias is reduced above open ocean by a realistic fraction of clouds and less cloud liquid water and above sea ice by less dark sea ice and more cloud droplets.
Jeonggyu Kim, Sungmin Park, Greg Michael McFarquhar, Anthony J. Baran, Joo Wan Cha, Kyoungmi Lee, Seoung Soo Lee, Chang Hoon Jung, Kyo-Sun Sunny Lim, and Junshik Um
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-608, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-608, 2024
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In this study, we developed idealized models to represent the shapes of ice particles found in deep convective clouds and calculated their single-scattering properties. By comparing these results with in situ measurements, we discovered that a mixture of shape models provides a closer match to in situ measurements than either single-form models or aggregate models do. This finding has important implications for enhancing the simulation of single-scattering properties of deep convective clouds.
Ruby Winter Burgess and Mayra Ivelisse Oyola-Merced
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2972, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2972, 2024
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This study explores how aerosols affect atmospheric heating over African Easterly Waves (AEWs). Using data from NASA's aircraft and outputs of reanalysis models, the research focuses on days with both Saharan dust and AEWs. Using a radiative transfer model, the study reveals significant differences in heating rates, emphasizing challenges in accurately representing aerosol effects in the atmosphere and underscoring the need for improved aerosol representation in weather models.
Bjorn Stevens and Lukas Kluft
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14673–14689, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14673-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14673-2023, 2023
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A simple model is introduced to account for the spectral diversity of radiant energy transfer. It provides an improved basis for assessing the different ways in which clouds influence Earth’s climate sensitivity, demonstrating how many cloud effects depend on the existing cloud climatology. Given existing assessments of changes in cloud albedo with warming, it is determined that clouds reduce Earth's climate sensitivity as compared to what it would be in a counterfactual world without clouds.
Kevin Wolf, Nicolas Bellouin, and Olivier Boucher
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14003–14037, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14003-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14003-2023, 2023
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Cirrus and contrails considerably impact Earth's energy budget. Such ice clouds can have a positive (warming) or negative (cooling) net radiative effect (RE), which depends on cloud and ambient properties. The effect of eight parameters on the cloud RE is estimated. In total, 283 500 radiative transfer simulations have been performed, spanning the typical parameter ranges associated with cirrus and contrails. Specific cases are selected and discussed. The data set is publicly available.
Adam C. Varble, Po-Lun Ma, Matthew W. Christensen, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Shuaiqi Tang, and Jerome Fast
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13523–13553, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13523-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13523-2023, 2023
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We evaluate how clouds change in response to changing atmospheric particle (aerosol) concentrations in a climate model and find that the model-predicted cloud brightness increases too much as aerosols increase because the cloud drop number increases too much. Excessive drizzle in the model mutes this difference. Many differences between observational and model estimates are explained by varying assumptions of how much liquid has been lost in clouds, which impacts the estimated cloud drop number.
Olivia Linke, Johannes Quaas, Finja Baumer, Sebastian Becker, Jan Chylik, Sandro Dahlke, André Ehrlich, Dörthe Handorf, Christoph Jacobi, Heike Kalesse-Los, Luca Lelli, Sina Mehrdad, Roel A. J. Neggers, Johannes Riebold, Pablo Saavedra Garfias, Niklas Schnierstein, Matthew D. Shupe, Chris Smith, Gunnar Spreen, Baptiste Verneuil, Kameswara S. Vinjamuri, Marco Vountas, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9963–9992, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9963-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9963-2023, 2023
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Lapse rate feedback (LRF) is a major driver of the Arctic amplification (AA) of climate change. It arises because the warming is stronger at the surface than aloft. Several processes can affect the LRF in the Arctic, such as the omnipresent temperature inversion. Here, we compare multimodel climate simulations to Arctic-based observations from a large research consortium to broaden our understanding of these processes, find synergy among them, and constrain the Arctic LRF and AA.
Mark D. Zelinka, Christopher J. Smith, Yi Qin, and Karl E. Taylor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8879–8898, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8879-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8879-2023, 2023
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The primary uncertainty in how strongly Earth's climate has been perturbed by human activities comes from the unknown radiative impact of aerosol changes. Accurately quantifying these forcings – and their sub-components – in climate models is crucial for understanding the past and future simulated climate. In this study we describe biases in previously published estimates of aerosol radiative forcing in climate models and provide corrected estimates along with code for users to compute them.
Tatiana Egorova, Jan Sedlacek, Timofei Sukhodolov, Arseniy Karagodin-Doyennel, Franziska Zilker, and Eugene Rozanov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5135–5147, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5135-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5135-2023, 2023
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This paper describes the climate and atmosphere benefits of the Montreal Protocol, simulated with the state-of-the-art Earth system model SOCOLv4.0. We have added to and confirmed the previous studies by showing that without the Montreal Protocol by the end of the 21st century there would be a dramatic reduction in the ozone layer as well as substantial perturbation of the essential climate variables in the troposphere caused by the warming from increasing ozone-depleting substances.
Daniele Visioni, Ben Kravitz, Alan Robock, Simone Tilmes, Jim Haywood, Olivier Boucher, Mark Lawrence, Peter Irvine, Ulrike Niemeier, Lili Xia, Gabriel Chiodo, Chris Lennard, Shingo Watanabe, John C. Moore, and Helene Muri
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5149–5176, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5149-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5149-2023, 2023
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Geoengineering indicates methods aiming to reduce the temperature of the planet by means of reflecting back a part of the incoming radiation before it reaches the surface or allowing more of the planetary radiation to escape into space. It aims to produce modelling experiments that are easy to reproduce and compare with different climate models, in order to understand the potential impacts of these techniques. Here we assess its past successes and failures and talk about its future.
Yingfang Li, Zhili Wang, Yadong Lei, Huizheng Che, and Xiaoye Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2499–2523, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2499-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2499-2023, 2023
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Since few studies have assessed the impacts of future combined reductions in aerosols, ozone, and their precursors on future climate change, we use models with an interactive representation of tropospheric aerosols and atmospheric chemistry schemes to quantify the impact of their reductions on the Asian climate. Our results suggest that their reductions will exacerbate the warming effect caused by greenhouse gases, increasing future climate extremes and associated population exposure risk.
Andreas Marsing, Ralf Meerkötter, Romy Heller, Stefan Kaufmann, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Martina Krämer, Christian Rolf, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 587–609, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-587-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-587-2023, 2023
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We employ highly resolved aircraft measurements of profiles of the ice water content (IWC) in Arctic cirrus clouds in winter and spring, when solar irradiation is low. Using radiation transfer calculations, we assess the cloud radiative effect over different surfaces like snow or ocean. The variability in the IWC of the clouds affects their overall radiative effect and drives internal processes. This helps understand the role of cirrus in a rapidly changing Arctic environment.
John T. Fasullo and Jadwiga H. Richter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 163–182, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-163-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-163-2023, 2023
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The continued high levels of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions increase the likelihood that key climate warming thresholds will be exceeded in the coming decades. Here we examine a recently proposed geoengineering approach using two recently produced climate model experiments. We find the associated latitudinal distribution of aerosol mass to exhibit substantial uncertainty, suggesting the need for significant flexibility in the location and amount of aerosol delivery, if implemented.
Youness El-Ouartassy, Irène Korsakissok, Matthieu Plu, Olivier Connan, Laurent Descamps, and Laure Raynaud
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15793–15816, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15793-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15793-2022, 2022
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This work investigates the potential value of using fine-scale meteorological ensembles to represent the inherent meteorological uncertainties in atmospheric dispersion model outputs. Probabilistic scores were used to evaluate the probabilistic performance of dispersion ensembles, using an original dataset of new continuous 85Kr air concentration measurements and a well-known source term. The results show that the ensemble dispersion simulations perform better than deterministic ones.
Ilissa B. Ocko and Steven P. Hamburg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9349–9368, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9349-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9349-2022, 2022
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Hydrogen is considered a key strategy to decarbonize the global economy. However, hydrogen is also a short-lived indirect greenhouse gas that can easily leak into the atmosphere. Given that the climate impacts from hydrogen emissions are not well understood, especially in the near term, we assess impacts over all timescales for plausible emissions rates. We find that hydrogen leakage can cause more warming than widely perceived; thus, attention is needed to minimize emissions.
Dustin Francis Phillip Grogan, Cheng-Hsuan Lu, Shih-Wei Wei, and Sheng-Po Chen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2385–2398, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2385-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2385-2022, 2022
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This study shows that incorporating aerosols into satellite radiance calculations affects the representation of African easterly waves (AEWs), and their environment, over North Africa and the eastern Atlantic in a numerical weather model. These changes are driven by radiative effects of Saharan dust captured by the aerosol-affected radiances, which modify the initial fields and can improve the forecasting of AEWs.
Tao Tang, Drew Shindell, Yuqiang Zhang, Apostolos Voulgarakis, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Gunnar Myhre, Gregory Faluvegi, Bjørn H. Samset, Timothy Andrews, Dirk Olivié, Toshihiko Takemura, and Xuhui Lee
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13797–13809, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13797-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13797-2021, 2021
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Previous studies showed that black carbon (BC) could warm the surface with decreased incoming radiation. With climate models, we found that the surface energy redistribution plays a more crucial role in surface temperature compared with other forcing agents. Though BC could reduce the surface heating, the energy dissipates less efficiently, which is manifested by reduced convective and evaporative cooling, thereby warming the surface.
Jiaojiao Liu and Xiangjun Shi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10609–10624, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10609-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10609-2021, 2021
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Cirrus thinning, which reduces the warming effect of cirrus clouds, has been investigated as a new geoengineering approach. In this study, a flexible seeding method is used to exploit the potential cooling effect of cirrus thinning. Simulation results show that the seeding method is essential for estimating the cooling effect. Cirrus thinning with the flexible seeding method could produce a considerable cooling effect, which is much stronger than the fixed seeding method.
Inés Sanz-Morère, Sebastian D. Eastham, Florian Allroggen, Raymond L. Speth, and Steven R. H. Barrett
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1649–1681, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1649-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1649-2021, 2021
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Contrails cause ~50 % of aviation climate impacts, but this is highly uncertain. This is partly due to the effect of overlap between contrails and other cloud layers. We developed a model to quantify this effect, finding that overlap with natural clouds increased contrails' radiative forcing in 2015. This suggests that cloud avoidance may help in reducing aviation's climate impacts. We also find that contrail–contrail overlap reduces impacts by ~3 %, increasing non-linearly with optical depth.
Kine Onsum Moseid, Michael Schulz, Trude Storelvmo, Ingeborg Rian Julsrud, Dirk Olivié, Pierre Nabat, Martin Wild, Jason N. S. Cole, Toshihiko Takemura, Naga Oshima, Susanne E. Bauer, and Guillaume Gastineau
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 16023–16040, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-16023-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-16023-2020, 2020
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In this study we compare solar radiation at the surface from observations and Earth system models from 1961 to 2014. We find that the models do not reproduce the so-called
global dimmingas found in observations. Only model experiments with anthropogenic aerosol emissions display any dimming at all. The discrepancies between observations and models are largest in China, which we suggest is in part due to erroneous aerosol precursor emission inventories in the emission dataset used for CMIP6.
Richard J. Bantges, Helen E. Brindley, Jonathan E. Murray, Alan E. Last, Jacqueline E. Russell, Cathryn Fox, Stuart Fox, Chawn Harlow, Sebastian J. O'Shea, Keith N. Bower, Bryan A. Baum, Ping Yang, Hilke Oetjen, and Juliet C. Pickering
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12889–12903, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12889-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12889-2020, 2020
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Understanding how ice clouds influence the Earth's energy balance remains a key challenge for predicting the future climate. These clouds are ubiquitous and are composed of ice crystals that have complex shapes that are incredibly difficult to model. This work exploits new measurements of the Earth's emitted thermal energy made from instruments flown on board an aircraft to test how well the latest ice cloud models can represent these clouds. Results indicate further developments are required.
Nina Črnivec and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 10733–10755, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10733-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10733-2020, 2020
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Unresolved interaction between clouds and atmospheric radiation is a source of uncertainty in weather and climate models. The present study highlights the potential of the state-of-the-art Tripleclouds radiative solver for shallow cumulus clouds, exposing the significance of properly representing subgrid cloud horizontal heterogeneity. The Tripleclouds concept was thereby incorporated in the widely employed δ-Eddington two-stream radiation scheme within the comprehensive libRadtran library.
Allison B. Marquardt Collow, Mark A. Miller, Lynne C. Trabachino, Michael P. Jensen, and Meng Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 10073–10090, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10073-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10073-2020, 2020
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Uncertainties in marine boundary layer clouds arise in the presence of biomass burning aerosol, as is the case over the southeast Atlantic Ocean. Heating due to this aerosol has the potential to alter the thermodynamic profile as the aerosol is transported across the Atlantic Ocean. Radiation transfer experiments indicate local shortwave aerosol heating is ~2–8 K d−1; however uncertainties in this quantity exist due to the single-scattering albedo and back trajectories of the aerosol plume.
Christopher J. Smith, Ryan J. Kramer, Gunnar Myhre, Kari Alterskjær, William Collins, Adriana Sima, Olivier Boucher, Jean-Louis Dufresne, Pierre Nabat, Martine Michou, Seiji Yukimoto, Jason Cole, David Paynter, Hideo Shiogama, Fiona M. O'Connor, Eddy Robertson, Andy Wiltshire, Timothy Andrews, Cécile Hannay, Ron Miller, Larissa Nazarenko, Alf Kirkevåg, Dirk Olivié, Stephanie Fiedler, Anna Lewinschal, Chloe Mackallah, Martin Dix, Robert Pincus, and Piers M. Forster
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 9591–9618, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9591-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9591-2020, 2020
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The spread in effective radiative forcing for both CO2 and aerosols is narrower in the latest CMIP6 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project) generation than in CMIP5. For the case of CO2 it is likely that model radiation parameterisations have improved. Tropospheric and stratospheric radiative adjustments to the forcing behave differently for different forcing agents, and there is still significant diversity in how clouds respond to forcings, particularly for total anthropogenic forcing.
Tao Tang, Drew Shindell, Yuqiang Zhang, Apostolos Voulgarakis, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Gunnar Myhre, Camilla W. Stjern, Gregory Faluvegi, and Bjørn H. Samset
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8251–8266, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8251-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8251-2020, 2020
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By using climate simulations, we found that both CO2 and black carbon aerosols could reduce low-level cloud cover, which is mainly due to changes in relative humidity, cloud water, dynamics, and stability. Because the impact of cloud on solar radiation is in effect only during daytime, such cloud reduction could enhance solar heating, thereby raising the daily maximum temperature by 10–50 %, varying by region, which has great implications for extreme climate events and socioeconomic activity.
Tobias Donth, Evelyn Jäkel, André Ehrlich, Bernd Heinold, Jacob Schacht, Andreas Herber, Marco Zanatta, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8139–8156, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8139-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8139-2020, 2020
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Solar radiative effects of Arctic black carbon (BC) particles (suspended in the atmosphere and in the surface snowpack) were quantified under cloudless and cloudy conditions. An atmospheric and a snow radiative transfer model were coupled to account for radiative interactions between both compartments. It was found that (i) the warming effect of BC in the snowpack overcompensates for the atmospheric BC cooling effect, and (ii) clouds tend to reduce the atmospheric BC cooling and snow BC warming.
Paul Ockenfuß, Claudia Emde, Bernhard Mayer, and Germar Bernhard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1961–1976, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1961-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1961-2020, 2020
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We model solar radiation as it would be measured on the Earth's surface in the core shadow of a total solar eclipse. Subsequently, we compare our results to observations during the total eclipse 2017 for ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Moreover, we analyze the effect of the surface reflectance, the ozone profile, aerosol and the topography and give a visualization of the prevailing photons paths in the atmosphere during the eclipse.
Nina Črnivec and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 8083–8100, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8083-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8083-2019, 2019
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The interaction between radiation and clouds represents a source of uncertainty in numerical weather prediction (NWP), due to both intrinsic problems of one-dimensional radiation schemes and poor representation of clouds. The underlying question addressed in this study is how large the bias is of radiative heating rates in NWP models for shallow cumulus clouds and how it scales with various parameters, such as solar zenith angle, surface albedo, cloud cover and liquid water path.
Ben Kravitz, Philip J. Rasch, Hailong Wang, Alan Robock, Corey Gabriel, Olivier Boucher, Jason N. S. Cole, Jim Haywood, Duoying Ji, Andy Jones, Andrew Lenton, John C. Moore, Helene Muri, Ulrike Niemeier, Steven Phipps, Hauke Schmidt, Shingo Watanabe, Shuting Yang, and Jin-Ho Yoon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 13097–13113, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13097-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13097-2018, 2018
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Marine cloud brightening has been proposed as a means of geoengineering/climate intervention, or deliberately altering the climate system to offset anthropogenic climate change. In idealized simulations that highlight contrasts between land and ocean, we find that the globe warms, including the ocean due to transport of heat from land. This study reinforces that no net energy input into the Earth system does not mean that temperature will necessarily remain unchanged.
Rick D. Russotto and Thomas P. Ackerman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11905–11925, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11905-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11905-2018, 2018
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In simulations with different climate models in which the strength of the Sun is reduced to cancel the surface warming from a quadrupling of atmospheric carbon dioxide, low cloud cover decreases, high cloud cover increases, the upper troposphere and stratosphere cool, and water vapor concentration decreases. The stratospheric cooling and low cloud reduction result in more sunlight reduction being needed than originally thought.
Justyna Lisok, Anna Rozwadowska, Jesper G. Pedersen, Krzysztof M. Markowicz, Christoph Ritter, Jacek W. Kaminski, Joanna Struzewska, Mauro Mazzola, Roberto Udisti, Silvia Becagli, and Izabela Gorecka
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 8829–8848, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8829-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8829-2018, 2018
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The aim of the presented study was to investigate the impact on the radiation budget and atmospheric dynamics of a biomass-burning plume, transported from Alaska to the High Arctic region of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, in early July 2015. We found that the smoke plume may significantly alter radiative properties of the atmosphere. Furthermore, the simulations of atmospheric dynamics indicated a vertical positive displacement and broadening of the plume with time.
Simon Gruber, Simon Unterstrasser, Jan Bechtold, Heike Vogel, Martin Jung, Henry Pak, and Bernhard Vogel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6393–6411, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6393-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6393-2018, 2018
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A numerical model also used for operational weather forecast was applied to investigate the impact of contrails and contrail cirrus on the radiative fluxes at the earth's surface. Accounting for contrails produced by aircraft enables the model to simulate high clouds that are otherwise missing. In a case study, we find that the effect of these extra clouds is to reduce the incoming shortwave radiation at the surface as well as the production of photovoltaic power by up to 10 %.
Andrew E. Dessler, Thorsten Mauritsen, and Bjorn Stevens
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5147–5155, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5147-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5147-2018, 2018
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One of the most important parameters in climate science is the equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS). Estimates of this quantity based on 20th-century observations suggest low values of ECS (below 2 °C). We show that these calculations may be significantly in error. Together with other recent work on this problem, it seems probable that the ECS is larger than suggested by the 20th-century observations.
Jake J. Gristey, J. Christine Chiu, Robert J. Gurney, Cyril J. Morcrette, Peter G. Hill, Jacqueline E. Russell, and Helen E. Brindley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5129–5145, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5129-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5129-2018, 2018
Daniela Meloni, Alcide di Sarra, Gérard Brogniez, Cyrielle Denjean, Lorenzo De Silvestri, Tatiana Di Iorio, Paola Formenti, José L. Gómez-Amo, Julian Gröbner, Natalia Kouremeti, Giuliano Liuzzi, Marc Mallet, Giandomenico Pace, and Damiano M. Sferlazzo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 4377–4401, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4377-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4377-2018, 2018
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This study examines how different aerosol optical properties determine the dust longwave radiative effects at the surface, in the atmosphere and at the top of the atmosphere, based on the combination of remote sensing and in situ observations from the ground, from airborne sensors, and from space, by means of radiative transfer modelling. The closure experiment is based on longwave irradiances and spectral brightness temperatures measured during the 2013 ChArMEx–ADRIMED campaign at Lampedusa.
Netsanet K. Alamirew, Martin C. Todd, Claire L. Ryder, John H. Marsham, and Yi Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 1241–1262, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-1241-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-1241-2018, 2018
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This paper quantifies the radiative effects of dust and water vapour in the Saharan heat low. Dust has a warming effect at the top of the atmosphere while cooling the surface. Water vapour has a warming effect both at the top of atmosphere and the surface. We find dust and water vapour have similar effects in driving the variability in the top-of-atmosphere radiative budget, while dust has a stronger effect than water vapour in controlling day-to-day variability of the surface radiative budget.
Fabian Jakub and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 13317–13327, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13317-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13317-2017, 2017
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The formation of shallow cumulus cloud streets was historically attributed primarily to dynamics. Here, we focus on the interaction between radiatively induced surface heterogeneities and the resulting patterns in the flow. Our results suggest that solar radiative heating has the potential to organize clouds perpendicular to the sun's incidence angle.
Guadalupe Sanchez, Antonio Serrano, and María Luisa Cancillo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12697–12708, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12697-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12697-2017, 2017
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This study proposes models to estimate the UVER diffuse irradiance, which means, at least, 40 % of the ultraviolet solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface at mid-latitudes. These models are inspired by expressions originally used to estimate total diffuse fraction and rely on variables commonly available to favor their applicability. The best model in this paper performs better than previous approaches and no additional information about the cloud or aerosol layer is needed.
Päivi Haapanala, Petri Räisänen, Greg M. McFarquhar, Jussi Tiira, Andreas Macke, Michael Kahnert, John DeVore, and Timo Nousiainen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 6865–6882, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6865-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6865-2017, 2017
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The dependence of solar-disk and circumsolar radiances on ice cloud
properties is studied with a Monte Carlo radiative transfer model. Ice
crystal roughness (or more generally, non-ideality) is found to be the
most important parameter influencing the circumsolar radiance, and ice
crystal sizes and shapes also play significant roles. When comparing
with radiances measured with the SAM instrument, rough ice crystals
reproduce the measurements better than idealized smooth ice crystals do.
Carolin Klinger, Bernhard Mayer, Fabian Jakub, Tobias Zinner, Seung-Bu Park, and Pierre Gentine
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5477–5500, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5477-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5477-2017, 2017
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Radiation is driving weather and climate. Yet, the effect of radiation on clouds is not fully understood and often only poorly represented in models. Better understanding and better parameterizations of the radiation–cloud interaction are therefore essential. Using our newly developed fast
neighboring column approximationfor 3-D thermal heating and cooling rates, we show that thermal radiation changes cloud circulation and causes organization and a deepening of the clouds.
Nicolas Bellouin, Laura Baker, Øivind Hodnebrog, Dirk Olivié, Ribu Cherian, Claire Macintosh, Bjørn Samset, Anna Esteve, Borgar Aamaas, Johannes Quaas, and Gunnar Myhre
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 13885–13910, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13885-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13885-2016, 2016
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This study uses global climate models to quantify how strongly man-made emissions of selected pollutants modify the energy budget of the Earth. The pollutants studied interact directly and indirectly with sunlight and terrestrial radiation and remain a relatively short time in the atmosphere, leading to regional and seasonal variations in their impacts. This new data set is useful to compare the potential climate impacts of different pollutants in support of policies to reduce climate change.
Shi Song, K. Sebastian Schmidt, Peter Pilewskie, Michael D. King, Andrew K. Heidinger, Andi Walther, Hironobu Iwabuchi, Gala Wind, and Odele M. Coddington
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 13791–13806, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13791-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13791-2016, 2016
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The radiative effects of spatially complex cloud fields are notoriously difficult to estimate and are afflicted with errors up to ±50 % of the incident solar radiation. We find that horizontal photon transport, the leading cause for these three-dimensional effects, manifests itself through a spectral fingerprint – a new observable that holds promise for reducing the errors associated with spatial complexity by moving the problem to the spectral dimension.
Agnieszka E. Czerwińska, Janusz W. Krzyścin, Janusz Jarosławski, and Michał Posyniak
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 13641–13651, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13641-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-13641-2016, 2016
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This article presents a comparison between the two surface-UV dose series, measured with Brewer spectrophotometers working simultaneously at two different sites in Poland: in a large city agglomeration and in the suburbs. We consider whether the city of Warsaw acts as a shield from ultraviolet overexposure. Our study proves that the UV level in Warsaw is slightly lower than that found in cleaner suburbs of the city.
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Short summary
Radiative transfer in the atmosphere is a 3D processes, which is often modelled in 1D for computational efficiency. We studied the differences between using 1D and 3D radiative transfer. With 3D radiation, larger clouds that contain more liquid water develop. However, they cover roughly the same part of the sky, and the average total radiation at the surface is nearly unchanged. The increase in cloud size might be important for weather models, as it can impact the formation of rain, for example.
Radiative transfer in the atmosphere is a 3D processes, which is often modelled in 1D for...
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