Previous analyses on the estimates of water vapor and cloud-related feedbacks in the tropics usually use observations over the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment （ERBE） period （1985-89）. To examine the sample depen...Previous analyses on the estimates of water vapor and cloud-related feedbacks in the tropics usually use observations over the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment （ERBE） period （1985-89）. To examine the sample dependence of previous estimates, the authors extend the analysis to two additional periods： 1990-94 and 1995-99. The results confirm our hypothesis, i.e., the values of the feedbacks depend on the period of data coverage. The differences in the feedbacks from cloud radiative forcings （CRFs） estimated from the three periods are particularly significant. Two possible causes for these differences are proposed. First, a regime behavior in the CRFs-Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly （SSTA） rela- tionship over the cold tongue region is revealed： when SSTA is below -0.5℃, the CRF anomalies are insensitive to the SSTA; when the SSTA is between -0.5℃ and 2.0℃, the CRF anomalies are positively correlated with the SSTA; however, when the SSTA exceeds 2.0℃, the CRF anomalies decrease with the SSTA. This regime behavior is due to the regime behavior of cirrostratus and deep convective clouds. Second, the CRFs-SSTA relationship is regulated by remote forcings. Warming of the far eastern equatorial Pacific would reduce the water vapor convergence over the central Pacific by weakening the trade wind over the southeastern Pacific, thereby reducing the feeding of moisture to the convective flow. The results suggest that CRFs-SSTA relationships during ENSO events are nonlinear and strongly depend on the magnitude and the spatial distribution of the SSTA.展开更多
Characteristics of cloud overlap over Eastern Asia are analyzed using a threeyear dataset （20072009） from the cloud observing satellite CloudSat. Decorrelation depth Lis retrieved, which represents cloud overlap cha...Characteristics of cloud overlap over Eastern Asia are analyzed using a threeyear dataset （20072009） from the cloud observing satellite CloudSat. Decorrelation depth Lis retrieved, which represents cloud overlap characteristics in the simulation of cloudradiation processes in global climate models. Results show that values of L in six study regions are generally within the range 03 km. By categorizing L according to cloud amount in subregions, peak L appears near subregions with cloud amount between 0.6 and 0.8. Average L is 2.5 km. L at higher altitudes is generally larger than at lower lati tudes. Seasonal variations of L are also clearly demonstrated. The sensitivity of cloud radiative forcing （CRF） to L;y in Community Atmosphere Model 3.0 of the National Center for Atmospheric Research （CAM3/NCAR） is analyzed. The result shows that L can have a big impact on simulation of CRF, especially in major monsoon regions and the MidEastern Pacif ic, where the difference in CRF can reach 4050 W m2. Therefore, accurate parameterization of cloud vertical overlap struc ture is important to CRF simulation and its feedback to climate.展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Technologies R&D Program of China (2007BAC29B03)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40890054 and 40821092)
文摘Previous analyses on the estimates of water vapor and cloud-related feedbacks in the tropics usually use observations over the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment （ERBE） period （1985-89）. To examine the sample dependence of previous estimates, the authors extend the analysis to two additional periods： 1990-94 and 1995-99. The results confirm our hypothesis, i.e., the values of the feedbacks depend on the period of data coverage. The differences in the feedbacks from cloud radiative forcings （CRFs） estimated from the three periods are particularly significant. Two possible causes for these differences are proposed. First, a regime behavior in the CRFs-Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly （SSTA） rela- tionship over the cold tongue region is revealed： when SSTA is below -0.5℃, the CRF anomalies are insensitive to the SSTA; when the SSTA is between -0.5℃ and 2.0℃, the CRF anomalies are positively correlated with the SSTA; however, when the SSTA exceeds 2.0℃, the CRF anomalies decrease with the SSTA. This regime behavior is due to the regime behavior of cirrostratus and deep convective clouds. Second, the CRFs-SSTA relationship is regulated by remote forcings. Warming of the far eastern equatorial Pacific would reduce the water vapor convergence over the central Pacific by weakening the trade wind over the southeastern Pacific, thereby reducing the feeding of moisture to the convective flow. The results suggest that CRFs-SSTA relationships during ENSO events are nonlinear and strongly depend on the magnitude and the spatial distribution of the SSTA.
基金supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2011CB403405)National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41075056)Public Meteorology Special Foundation of MOST (Grant No. GYHY201106022)
文摘Characteristics of cloud overlap over Eastern Asia are analyzed using a threeyear dataset （20072009） from the cloud observing satellite CloudSat. Decorrelation depth Lis retrieved, which represents cloud overlap characteristics in the simulation of cloudradiation processes in global climate models. Results show that values of L in six study regions are generally within the range 03 km. By categorizing L according to cloud amount in subregions, peak L appears near subregions with cloud amount between 0.6 and 0.8. Average L is 2.5 km. L at higher altitudes is generally larger than at lower lati tudes. Seasonal variations of L are also clearly demonstrated. The sensitivity of cloud radiative forcing （CRF） to L;y in Community Atmosphere Model 3.0 of the National Center for Atmospheric Research （CAM3/NCAR） is analyzed. The result shows that L can have a big impact on simulation of CRF, especially in major monsoon regions and the MidEastern Pacif ic, where the difference in CRF can reach 4050 W m2. Therefore, accurate parameterization of cloud vertical overlap struc ture is important to CRF simulation and its feedback to climate.
