Title: Three-Dimensional Surface Downwelling Longwave Radiation Clear-Sky Effects in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1]
  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
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In complex terrain, non-parallel surfaces receive emitted radiation from adjacent surfaces. Qualitatively, where surface skin temperatures and lower tropospheric temperature and humidity are not uniform, the downwelling longwave radiation (DLR) will be determined not just by radiation from the atmosphere above a given location, but also by adjacent surface temperatures. We quantify this three-dimensional longwave radiative effect over the Upper Colorado River Basin in clear-sky conditions by calculating surface DLR with observed land-surface temperatures from ECOSTRESS. We find that this effect is due to terrain-subtended sky-view and represents ~22% of the surface longwave flux, rising to ~28% and ~24% in the East and Southeast of the Basin, respectively, and can be >50% in extreme cases. The common omission of this effect in atmospheric radiation models leads to an underestimation of DLR in complex terrain, especially at higher elevations, which has significant implications for mountainous ecohydrology simulations.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1900422
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 49; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

3-dimensional effects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
COVID-19
ECOSTRESS
longwave radiation
mountains
net surface flux
remote sensing