Title: Investigation of the Residual in Column-Integrated Atmospheric Energy Balance Using Cloud Objects

Abstract

Observationally based atmospheric energy balance is analyzed using Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES)-derived TOA and surface irradiance, Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP)-derived precipitation, dry static and kinetic energy tendency and divergence estimated from ERA-Interim, and surface sensible heat flux from SeaFlux. The residual tends to be negative over the tropics and positive over midlatitudes. A negative residual implies that the precipitation rate is too small, divergence is too large, or radiative cooling is too large. The residual of atmospheric energy is spatially and temporally correlated with cloud objects to identify cloud types associated with the residual. Spatially, shallow cumulus, cirrostratus, and deep convective cloud-object occurrence are positively correlated with the absolute value of the residual. The temporal correlation coefficient between the number of deep convective cloud objects and individual energy components, net atmospheric irradiance, precipitation rate, and the sum of dry static and kinetic energy divergence and their tendency over the western Pacific are 0.84, 0.95, and 0.93, respectively. However, when all energy components are added, the atmospheric energy residual over the tropical Pacific is temporally correlated well with the number of shallow cumulus cloud objects over tropical Pacific. Because shallow cumulus alters not enough atmospheric energymore » compared to the residual, this suggests the following: 1) if retrieval errors associated with deep convective clouds are causing the column-integrated atmospheric energy residual, the errors vary among individual deep convective clouds, and 2) it is possible that the residual is associated with processes in which shallow cumulus clouds affect deep convective clouds and hence atmospheric energy budget over the tropical western Pacific.« less

Authors:

Kato, Seiji ^[1]; Xu, Kuan-Man ^[1]; Wong, Takmeng ^[1]; Loeb, Norman G. ^[1]; Rose, Fred G. ^[2]; Trenberth, Kevin E. ^[3]; Thorsen, Tyler J. ^[1]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA (United States)
2. Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Hampton, VA (United States)
3. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

Publication Date:

Wed Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2016

Research Org.:

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC)

OSTI Identifier:

1537000

Grant/Contract Number:  

SC0012711

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Journal of Climate

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 29; Journal Issue: 20; Journal ID: ISSN 0894-8755

Publisher:

American Meteorological Society

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences