Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

On the Estimation of Clear-Sky Upwelling Shortwave and Longwave

Conference ·
OSTI ID:841619

Previous work (Long and Ackerman 2000; Long 2004) has concentrated on estimation of the downwelling clear-sky irradiances and the calculation of the effect of clouds on the downwelling radiative energy budget. However, cloud forcing is defined for the difference between clear- and cloudy-sky net radiation, which includes the upwelling components. Thus, if we are to estimate the surface radiative cloud forcing, the means must be developed to estimate what the upwelling shortwave and longwave irradiance would be if the clouds were not present. Estimation of the upwelling longwave (LW) is particularly troublesome in that the emitted upwelling LW is a function of the total surface energy exchange including latent and sensible heat, which is related to but not necessarily always totally driven by the radiative exchange alone, but also involves the evolving soil and vegetation properties and changes in soil moisture amounts.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC) (US)
OSTI ID:
841619
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English