Radiation variability in global and regional climate changes

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Atmospheric radiation plays an important role in climate and weather variations. Our understanding of the global warming has been facilitated by a theoretic framework centered on radiative forcing and feedback. However, at the regional scales, there remain gaps in our understanding of the forcing and feedback mechanisms and considerable uncertainties in their quantification. On the other hand, the synergic observation programs such as the A-Train satellites have provided nearly two decades' climate data with unprecedented accuracy and global coverage, which presents a unique opportunity for analyzing the climate change at both global and regional scales. ******In this research program, we will advance the methods for quantifying the radiative impacts of crucial climate variables such as cloud and surface albedo and apply these methods to investigate how radiative energy drives climate variations in different regions. In particular, we will investigate the radiation-sea ice relationship in the Arctic and quantify the radiative forcing and feedback to the anomalous sea ice melts. With the innovative methods we develop, the analysis will uniquely include the radiative fluxes at the Earth surface, in addition to the top-of-atmosphere perspective. The investigation will also elucidate the connection between the vertical and horizontal energy fluxes in the atmosphere during climate change. ******This program will lead to a better understanding of climate trends in radiation such as that in the ground-level solar radiation, which is an important form of renewable energy. This research will also validate and help improve the simulation of radiative energetics in comprehensive weather and climate models, which may lead to improved climate prediction, e.g., the prediction of sea-ice variability and future warming in the Arctic. *****