Cirrus clouds are not only important in determining the current climate, but also play an important role in climate change and variability. Analysis of satellite observations shows that the amount and altitude of cirrus clouds (optical depth <3.6, cloud top pressure <440 hPa) increase in response to inter-annual surface warming. Thus, cirrus clouds are likely to act as a positive feedback on short-term climate fluctuations, by reducing the planet’s ability to radiate longwave radiation to space in response to planetary surface warming. Using cirrus cloud radiative kernels, the magnitude of cirrus feedback is estimated to be 0.20±0.21W/m2/°C, which is comparable to the surface albedo feedback. Most of the cirrus feedback comes from increasing cloud amount in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) and subtropical upper troposphere.
Zhou, C., Dessler, A. E., Zelinka, M. D., Yang, P., & Wang, T. (2014). Cirrus feedback on interannual climate fluctuations. Geophysical Research Letters, 41(24). https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL062095
Zhou, C., Dessler, A. E., Zelinka, M. D., et al., "Cirrus feedback on interannual climate fluctuations," Geophysical Research Letters 41, no. 24 (2014), https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL062095
@article{osti_1174296,
author = {Zhou, C. and Dessler, A. E. and Zelinka, M. D. and Yang, P. and Wang, T.},
title = {Cirrus feedback on interannual climate fluctuations},
annote = {Cirrus clouds are not only important in determining the current climate, but also play an important role in climate change and variability. Analysis of satellite observations shows that the amount and altitude of cirrus clouds (optical depth 2/°C, which is comparable to the surface albedo feedback. Most of the cirrus feedback comes from increasing cloud amount in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) and subtropical upper troposphere.},
doi = {10.1002/2014GL062095},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1174296},
journal = {Geophysical Research Letters},
issn = {ISSN 0094-8276},
number = {24},
volume = {41},
place = {United States},
publisher = {American Geophysical Union},
year = {2014},
month = {12}}
Winker, David M.; Pelon, Jacques R.; McCormick, M. Patrick
Third International Asia-Pacific Environmental Remote Sensing Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere, Ocean, Environment, and Space, SPIE Proceedingshttps://doi.org/10.1117/12.466539