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At least 73 records · Page 4

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NASA NTRS1986

Observed perturbations of the Earth's Radiation Budget - A response to the El Chichon stratospheric aerosol layer?

The Earth Radiation Budget experiment, launched aboard the Nimbus-7 polar-orbiting spacecraft in late 1978, has now taken over seven years of measurements. The dataset, which is global in coverage, consists of the individual components of the earth's radiation budget, including longwave emission, net radiation, and both total and near-infrared albedos. Starting some six months after the 1982 eruption of the El Chichon volcano, substantial long-lived positive shortwave irradiance anomalies were observed by the experiment in both the northern and southern polar regions. Analysis of the morphology of this phenomena indicates that the cause is the global stratospheric aerosol layer which formed from the cloud of volcanic effluents. There was little change in the emitted longwave in the polar regions. At the north pole the largest anomaly was in the near-infrared, but at the south pole the near UV-visible anomaly was larger. Assuming an exponential decay, the time constant for the north polar, near-infrared anomaly was 1.2 years. At mid- and low latitudes the effect of the El Chichon aerosol layer could not be separated from the strong reflected-shortwave and emitted-longwave perturbations issuing from the El Nino/Southern Oscillation event of 1982-83.

Ardanuy, P. E.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Model evaluation of the radiative and temperature effects of the ozone content changes in the global atmosphere of 1980's

Radiative and temperature effects of the observed ozone and greenhouse gas atmospheric content changes in 1980 - 1990 are evaluated using the two-dimensional energy balance radiative-convective model of the zonally and annually averaged troposphere and stratosphere. Calculated radiative flux changes for standard conditions quantitatively agree with their estimates in WMO/UNEP 1991 review. Model estimates indicate rather small influence of ozone depletion in the lower stratosphere on the greenhouse tropospheric warming rate, being more significant in the non-tropical Southern Hemisphere. The calculated cooling of the lower stratosphere is close to the observed temperature trends there in the last decade.

Karol, Igor L.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Radiative equilibrium temperatures in the stratosphere and mesosphere - A comparison for the stellar occultation and BUV ozone data

Recently published ozone densities in the equatorial stratosphere and mesosphere from satellite stellar occultation measurements are appreciably larger than previous independent midlatitude measurements and ozone densities predicted by photochemical theory. Radiative equilibrium temperature profiles with a stratosphere-mesosphere optimized model have been calculated for each of these ozone profiles; it is found that the stellar occultation studies cannot be discounted on energy balance grounds.

Kuhn, W. R.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Radiative flux measurements in the stratosphere

The objective is to determine how the stratospheric tropospheric exchange of water vapor is affected by the interaction of solar (visible) and planetary (infrared) radiation with tropical cumulonimbus anvils. This research involves field measurements from the ER-2 aircraft as well as radiative transfer modelling to determine heating and cooling rates and profiles that directly affect the exchange between the troposphere and the stratosphere.

Valero, Francisco P. J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Radiation chemistry in the Jovian stratosphere - Laboratory simulations

The results of the present low-pressure/continuous-flow laboratory simulations of H2/He/CH4/NH3 atmospheres' plasma-induced chemistry indicate radiation yields of both hydrocarbon and N2-containing organic compounds which increase with decreasing pressure. On the basis of these findings, upper limits of 1 million-1 billion molecules/sq cm/sec are established for production rates of major auroral-chemistry species in the Jovian stratosphere. It is noted that auroral processes may account for 10-100 percent of the total abundances of most of the observed polar-region organic species.

Mcdonald, Gene D.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Photochemical-radiative damping and instability in the stratosphere. II Numerical results

In a paper by Strobel (1977), opacity effects on the joint photochemical-radiative relaxation in the stratosphere were evaluated by a linear perturbation analysis. Significant reductions in the photochemical acceleration of the thermal relaxation rate and the ozone photochemical relaxation rate were obtained in the upper stratosphere as a result of opacity changes. For very large vertical scale height ozone density perturbations, amplifying solutions were generated by large opacity changes in the O3 dissociation and heating rates. Such solutions could indicate that the stratosphere does not possess an equilibrium ozone concentration. In the present paper, some illustrative numerical calculations are presented to demonstrate the properties of the amplifying solutions. The results indicate that ungeophysically large disturbances are required and that they cease growth before attainment of geophysically interesting amplitudes, and decay to the unperturbed state.

Strobel, D. F.↗

NASA NTRS2023

Surface Warming and Wetting Due to Methane’s Longwave Radiative Effects Muted By Shortwave Absorption

Although greenhouse gases absorb primarily long-wave radiation, they also absorb short-wave radiation. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of methane short-wave absorption, which enhances its stratospherically adjusted radiative forcing by up to ~ 15%. The corresponding climate impacts, however, have been only indirectly evaluated and thus remain largely unquantified. Here we present a systematic, unambiguous analysis using one model and separate simulations with and without methane short-wave absorption. We find that methane short-wave absorption counteracts ~30% of the surface warming associated with its long-wave radiative effects. An even larger impact occurs for precipitation as methane short-wave absorption offsets ~60% of the precipitation increase relative to its long-wave radiative effects. The methane short-wave-induced cooling is due largely to cloud rapid adjustments, including increased low-level clouds, which enhance the reflection of incoming short-wave radiation, and decreased high-level clouds, which enhance outgoing long-wave radiation. The cloud responses, in turn, are related to the profile of atmospheric solar heating and corresponding changes in temperature and relative humidity. Despite our findings, methane remains a potent contributor to global warming, and efforts to reduce methane emissions are vital for keeping global warming well below 2 °C above preindustrial values.

radiative forcing↗

NASA NTRS1976

A numerical study of the radiative-dynamic interaction in the stratosphere by a time-dependent zonal mean circulation model

The response of a zonal mean circulation model was compared to different heating functions used to simulate the interannual climate cycle. Two heating functions were used: A simple Newtonian heating function and a sophisticated heating function (Ramanathan, 1976). The emphasis was on the coupling between radiative transfer and the circulation in the stratosphere. The model was formulated in terms of primitive equations with 10 deg latitudinal resolution and 18 levels in pressure. Eddy transport of heat in the stratosphere was treated by the Reed and German (1965) formulation, while Stone's (1973) formulation is used in the troposphere. Momentum eddy fluxes are specified by climate statistics after Harwood and Pyle (1975). The model dynamics resulting from the two runs are compared to demonstrate the benefits of using detailed heating functions.

Turner, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS1984

A model of the radiative properties of the El Chichon stratospheric aerosol layer

An accurate multiple-scattering model has been employed to examine the effect of an aerosol layer at 25 mb, corresponding to the El Chichon observations, on the reflection, transmission and absorption of radiation by the stratosphere as a function of latitude, optical thickness and aerosol size distribution. Results are presented and parameterized for each of two wavelength intervals in the shortwave region and 17 wavelength intervals in the longwave region for three models of the aerosol size distribution. They include one model representing the unperturbed stratospheric aerosol plus two models based on measurements of the El Chichon aerosol size distribution. In addition to models of the radiative properties of the aerosol layer, a simple model of the latitudinal distribution of aerosol optical thickness as a function of time is developed, based on diffusive transport in latitude and exponential decay in time. These parameterizations for solar and infrared radiation, together with the dispersion model, permit climate models to account for the evolution of an aerosol size distribution from post-volcanic conditions to background conditions.

King, M. D.↗

NASA NTRS1971

Determination of stratospheric temperature and height gradients from nimbus 3 radiation data

To improve the specification of stratospheric horizontal temperature and geopotential height fields from satellite radiation data, needed for high flying aircraft, a technique was derived to estimate data between satellite tracks using interpolated IRIS 15-micron data from Nimbus III. The interpolation is based on the observed gradients of the MRIR 15-micron radiances between subsatellite tracks. The technique was verified with radiosonde data taken within 6 hours of the satellite data. The sample varied from 1126 pairs at low levels to 383 pairs at 10 mb using northern hemisphere data for June 15 to July 20, 1969. The data were separated into five latitude bands. The Rms temperature differences were generally from 2 to 5 C for all levels above 300 mb. From 500 to 300 mb RMS differences vary from 4 to 9C except at high latitudes which show values near 3C. The RMS differences between radiosonde heights and those calculated hydrostatically from the surface were from 30 to 280 meters increasing from the surface to 10 mb. Integration starting at 100 mb reduced the RMS difference in the stratosphere to 20 to 120 meters from 70 to 10 mb. From a comparison with actual operational maps at 50 and 10 mb, it appears the techniques developed produce analyses in general agreement with those from radiosonde data. In addition, they are able to indicate details over areas of sparse data not shown by conventional techniques.

Nicholas, G. W.↗

NASA NTRS1985

A study on radiative damping of planetary waves utilizing stratospheric observations

Satellite ozone observations made by the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) and corresponding meteorological temperature data are used to study the radiative damping processes associated with planetary waves during stratospheric warmings. Ramanathan's model has been adapted for the radiative heating and cooling calculations. The derived infrared damping coefficients, based on observed stratospheric ozone and temperature, are compared with the Newtonian cooling coefficients of Dickinson and Fels. It is also shown that the negative correlation between temperature and ozone solar heating in the upper stratosphere accelerates the damping rate due to infrared cooling alone, in agreement with the theoretical analysis and an earlier report based on observations. In addition, it is also found in this analysis that the phase relationship between ozone and solar heating waves is characterized by its behavior in three distinct layers. In the regions above about 2 mb and also below about 10 mb, the waves are closely in-phase. Between approximately 2 and 10 mb, they show a departure from the in-phase relationship which can be attributed to the so-called 'opacity effect'. This effect significantly determines the magnitude of radiative damping.

Ghazi, A.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Analysis of 1970-1995 Trends in Tropospheric Ozone at Northern Hemisphere Midlatitudes with the GEOS-CHEM Model

I ] The causes of trends in tropospheric ozone at Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes from 1970 to 1995 are investigated with the GEOS-CHEM model, a global three-dimensional model of the troposphere driven by assimilated meteorological observations from the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS). This model is used to investigate the sensitivity of tropospheric ozone with respect to (1) changes in the anthropogenic emission of nitrogen oxides and nonmethane hydrocarbons, (2) increases in methane concentrations, (3) variations in the stratospheric source of ozone, (4) changes in solar radiation resulting from stratospheric ozone depletion, and ( 5 ) increases in tropospheric temperatures. Model results indicate that local increases in NO, emissions have caused most of the increases seen in lower tropospheric ozone over Europe and Japan. Increases in methane are responsible for roughly one fifth of the anthropogenically induced increase in tropospheric ozone at northern midlatitudes. However, changes in ozone precursors do not adequately explain either the spatial differences in observed ozone trends across midlatitudes or the observed decreases in ozone over Canada throughout the troposphere. We argue that ozone depletion in the lowermost stratosphere is likely to have reduced the stratospheric source by as much as 30% from the early 1970s to the mid 1990s. Model simulations that account for such a reduction along with reported changes in anthropogenic emissions show steep declines of ozone in the upper troposphere and variable increases in the lower troposphere that are more consistent with observations. Differential temperature trends in summer between North America and Europe may account for at least some of the remaining spatial variation in tropospheric ozone trends. Increases in ultraviolet (UV) radiation due to stratospheric ozone depletion do not appear to significantly reduce tropospheric ozone, except at midlatitudes in the Southern Hemisphere following the breakup of the ozone hole.

Fusco, Andrew C.↗

NASA NTRS2020

The HadGEM3-GA7.1 radiative kernel: the importance of a well-resolved stratosphere

We present top-of-atmosphere and surface radiative kernels based on the atmospheric component (GA7.1) of the HadGEM3 general circulation model developed by the UK Met Office. We show that the utility of radiative kernels for forcing adjustments in idealised CO2 perturbation experiments is greatest where there is sufficiently high resolution in the stratosphere in both the target climate model and the radiative kernel. This is because stratospheric cooling to a CO2 perturbation continues to increase with height, and low-resolution or low-top kernels or climate model output are unable to fully resolve the full stratospheric temperature adjustment. In the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6), standard atmospheric model data are available up to 1 hPa on 19 pressure levels, which is a substantial advantage compared to CMIP5. We show in the IPSL-CM6A-LR model where a full set of climate diagnostics are available that the HadGEM3-GA7.1 kernel exhibits linear behaviour and the residual error term is small, as well as from a survey of kernels available in the literature that in general low-top radiative kernels underestimate the stratospheric temperature response. The HadGEM3-GA7.1 radiative kernels are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3594673 (Smith, 2019).

radiative kernels↗

DOE OSTI2020

Effective radiative forcing and adjustments in CMIP6 models

Abstract. The effective radiative forcing, which includes the instantaneous forcing plus adjustments from the atmosphere and surface, has emerged as the key metric of evaluating human and natural influence on the climate. We evaluate effective radiative forcing and adjustments in 17 contemporary climate models that are participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) and have contributed to the Radiative Forcing Model Intercomparison Project (RFMIP). Present-day (2014) global-mean anthropogenic forcing relative to pre-industrial (1850) levels from climate models stands at 2.00 (±0.23) W m−2, comprised of 1.81 (±0.09) W m−2 from CO2, 1.08 (± 0.21) W m−2 from other well-mixed greenhouse gases, −1.01 (± 0.23) W m−2 from aerosols and −0.09 (±0.13) W m−2 from land use change. Quoted uncertainties are 1 standard deviation across model best estimates, and 90 % confidence in the reported forcings, due to internal variability, is typically within 0.1 W m−2. The majority of the remaining 0.21 W m−2 is likely to be from ozone. In most cases, the largest contributors to the spread in effective radiative forcing (ERF) is from the instantaneous radiative forcing (IRF) and from cloud responses, particularly aerosol–cloud interactions to aerosol forcing. As determined in previous studies, cancellation of tropospheric and surface adjustments means that the stratospherically adjusted radiative forcing is approximately equal to ERF for greenhouse gas forcing but not for aerosols, and consequentially, not for the anthropogenic total. The spread of aerosol forcing ranges from −0.63 to −1.37 W m−2, exhibiting a less negative mean and narrower range compared to 10 CMIP5 models. The spread in 4×CO2 forcing has also narrowed in CMIP6 compared to 13 CMIP5 models. Aerosol forcing is uncorrelated with climate sensitivity. Therefore, there is no evidence to suggest that the increasing spread in climate sensitivity in CMIP6 models, particularly related to high-sensitivity models, is a consequence of a stronger negative present-day aerosol forcing and little evidence that modelling groups are systematically tuning climate sensitivity or aerosol forcing to recreate observed historical warming.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2020

Effective radiative forcing and adjustments in CMIP6 models

The effective radiative forcing, which includes the instantaneous forcing plus adjustments from the atmosphere and surface, has emerged as the key metric of evaluating human and natural influence on the climate. We evaluate effective radiative forcing and adjustments in 17 contemporary climate models that are participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) and have contributed to the Radiative Forcing Model Intercomparison Project (RFMIP). Present-day (2014) global-mean anthropogenic forcing relative to pre-industrial (1850) levels from climate models stands at 2.00 (±0.23) W/sq. m, comprised of 1.81 (±0.09) W/sq. m from CO2, 1.08 (± 0.21) W/sq. m from other well-mixed greenhouse gases, −1.01 (± 0.23) W/sq. m from aerosols and −0.09 (±0.13) W/sq. m from land use change. Quoted uncertainties are 1 standard deviation across model best estimates, and 90 % confidence in the reported forcings, due to internal variability, is typically within 0.1 W/sq. m. The majority of the remaining 0.21 W/sq. m is likely to be from ozone. In most cases, the largest contributors to the spread in effective radiative forcing (ERF) is from the instantaneous radiative forcing (IRF) and from cloud responses, particularly aerosol–cloud interactions to aerosol forcing. As determined in previous studies, cancellation of tropospheric and surface adjustments means that the stratospherically adjusted radiative forcing is approximately equal to ERF for greenhouse gas forcing but not for aerosols, and consequentially, not for the anthropogenic total. The spread of aerosol forcing ranges from −0.63 to −1.37 W/sq. m, exhibiting a less negative mean and narrower range compared to 10 CMIP5 models. The spread in 4×CO2 forcing has also narrowed in CMIP6 compared to 13 CMIP5 models. Aerosol forcing is uncorrelated with climate sensitivity. Therefore, there is no evidence to suggest that the increasing spread in climate sensitivity in CMIP6 models, particularly related to high-sensitivity models, is a consequence of a stronger negative present-day aerosol forcing and little evidence that modelling groups are systematically tuning climate sensitivity or aerosol forcing to recreate observed historical warming.

effective radiative forcing↗

NASA NTRS1981

Ozone variations and radiative-photochemical damping during a stratospheric warming

Ozone variations expected in the uppermost stratosphere and mesosphere during a warming are estimated by a photochemical calculation based on temperatures measured at 40-80 km during the February 1966 warming at Fort Churchill, Canada. A simple linearized model of radiative-photochemical relaxation is then used to describe the coupled response of ozone and temperature to a specified heating due to dynamical forcing. By comparing the joint radiative-photochemical relaxation time with that for infrared emission alone shows that the ozone perturbation induced by the warming reduces the recovery time to approximately 65% of the pure radiative value near 70 km and to 90% near 50 km. Thus, the ozone changes induced by the dynamically forced temperature increases have a significant impact on the evolution of the warming.

Frederick, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Determination of stratospheric temperature and height gradients from Nimbus 3 radiation data

To improve the specification of stratospheric, horizontal, temperature and geopotential height fields needed for high-flying aircraft, we derived a technique to estimate data between satellite tracks using interpolated infrared interferometer spectrometer 15-micron radiation data from Nimbus 3. The interpolation is based on the observed gradients of the medium resolution infrared 15-micron radiances between subsatellite tracks. The technique was verified with radiosonde data taken within 6 hr of the satellite data. Comparison indicates that the technique developed here produces analyses that are in general agreement with those from radiosonde data. In addition, this technique provides details over areas of sparse data not shown by conventional techniques.

Nicholas, G. W.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Temperature Trends in the Tropical Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere: Connections with Sea Surface Temperatures and Implications for Water Vapor and Ozone

Satellite observations and chemistry-climate model experiments are used to understand the zonal structure of tropical lower stratospheric temperature, water vapor, and ozone trends. The warming in the tropical upper troposphere over the past 30 years is strongest near the Indo-Pacific warm pool, while the warming trend in the western and central Pacific is much weaker. In the lower stratosphere, these trends are reversed: the historical cooling trend is strongest over the Indo-Pacific warm pool and is weakest in the western and central Pacific. These zonal variations are stronger than the zonal-mean response in boreal winter. Targeted experiments with a chemistry-climate model are used to demonstrate that sea surface temperature (hereafter SST) trends are driving the zonal asymmetry in upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric tropical temperature trends. Warming SSTs in the Indian Ocean and in the warm pool region have led to enhanced moist heating in the upper troposphere, and in turn to a Gill-like response that extends into the lower stratosphere. The anomalous circulation has led to zonal structure in the ozone and water vapor trends near the tropopause, and subsequently to less water vapor entering the stratosphere. The radiative impact of these changes in trace gases is smaller than the direct impact of the moist heating. Projected future SSTs appear to drive a temperature and water vapor response whose zonal structure is similar to the historical response. In the lower stratosphere, the changes in water vapor and temperature due to projected future SSTs are of similar strength to, though slightly weaker than, that due directly to projected future CO2, ozone, and methane.

water vapor↗