Radiation-circulation coupling of atmospheric climate changes

大气气候变化的辐射-环流耦合

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-05225
• 负责人: Merlis, Timothy
• 金额: $ 3.13万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=715424
• 关键词: Radiation; circulation; coupling; atmospheric; climate

Anthropogenic climate changes alter Earth's radiation balance and give rise to global warming. Uncertainty in the physical science dimension of climate change is a critical bottleneck in determining the socially relevant climate impacts and making climate policy decisions. The changes in radiation that cause global warming also provoke atmospheric circulation changes. These, in turn, drive regional climate changes in temperature and precipitation. However, the atmospheric circulation also shapes the radiation changes by determining the distribution of clouds and atmospheric humidity. This two--way interaction or coupling between radiation and circulation is the scientific challenge that this research program will address. One measure of the importance of this coupling is that the World Climate Research Programme has identified it as a "Grand Challenge on Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity." The proposed research program identifies multiple scales of radiation--circulation coupling that will be addressed: the global scale of the planetary circulations and their role in Arctic warming, the storm scale of the middle latitudes (about one thousand kilometers in horizontal size), and the storm scales found in the tropics (from kilometers to several hundred kilometers in size). The importance of radiation--circulation coupling across these scales will be unraveled using a combination of climate theory, numerical simulation, and observational analysis. This program's science goals are focused on Arctic warming, attribution of precipitation changes to anthropogenic warming, and the response of tropical cyclones to warming, three aspects of climate change with substantial impacts on human well being. This is research will benefit Canada by (i) reducing uncertainty in future climate changes, (ii) training a diverse group of students spanning all academic stages in contemporary computational science methods, and (iii) enhancing the nation's profile in the international climate research community.

人为气候变化改变了地球的辐射平衡，导致全球变暖。气候变化的物理科学方面的不确定性是确定与社会相关的气候影响和作出气候政策决定的一个关键瓶颈。导致全球变暖的辐射变化也会引起大气环流的变化。这些反过来又推动了温度和降水的区域气候变化。然而，大气环流也通过确定云和大气湿度的分布来塑造辐射变化。辐射和循环之间的这种双向相互作用或耦合是这项研究计划将要解决的科学挑战。这种耦合的重要性的一个衡量标准是，世界气候研究计划已将其确定为“云，环流和气候敏感性的巨大挑战”。" 拟议的研究计划确定了辐射-环流耦合的多个尺度，将被解决：行星环流的全球尺度及其在北极变暖中的作用，中纬度地区的风暴尺度（水平尺寸约为1000公里），以及热带地区的风暴尺度（尺寸从公里到几百公里）。辐射-环流耦合在这些尺度上的重要性将通过气候理论、数值模拟和观测分析的结合来揭示。该计划的科学目标集中在北极变暖，降水变化归因于人为变暖，以及热带气旋对变暖的反应，这是气候变化对人类福祉产生重大影响的三个方面。这项研究将使加拿大受益：（一）减少未来气候变化的不确定性，（二）在当代计算科学方法中培训跨越所有学术阶段的多样化学生群体，以及（三）提高国家在国际气候研究界的形象。