scholarly journals Comparison of Spectrally Resolved Outgoing Longwave Radiation over the Tropical Pacific between 1970 and 2003 Using IRIS, IMG, and AIRS

2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (15) ◽  
pp. 3982-4001 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Griggs ◽  
J. E. Harries

Abstract The observation of changes in the earth’s spectrally resolved outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) provides a direct method of determining changes in the radiative forcing of the climate system. An earlier study showed that satellite-observed changes in the clear-sky outgoing longwave spectrum between 1997 and 1970 from the Infrared Interferometer Spectrometer (IRIS) and Interferometic Monitor of Greenhouse Gases (IMG) instruments could be related to changes in greenhouse gas composition. The authors present a new study that extends this to 2003, through the first use of a new, independent source of global atmospheric infrared spectra, from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) experiment. AIRS is a dispersion grating spectrometer, while the other two were Fourier transform spectrometers, and this is taken into account in the analysis. The observed difference spectrum between the years 2003 and 1970 generally shows the signatures of greenhouse gas forcing, and also shows the sensitivity of the signatures to interannual variations in temperature. The new 2003 data support the conclusions found in the earlier work, though, interestingly, the methane (CH4) Q branch centered at 1304 cm−1 exhibits more complex behavior, showing a decrease in intensity in the difference spectrum between 1997 and 2003. Sensitivity analysis indicates that this is due to changes in temperature structure, superposed on an underlying increase in CH4. Radiative transfer calculations based on reanalysis data are used to simulate the changes in the OLR spectrum; limitations in such data and possible variations that could account for several observed effects are discussed.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brunna Penna ◽  
Dirceu Herdies ◽  
Simone Costa

Abstract. Sixteen years of analysis of clear-sky direct aerosol radiative forcing is presented for the Amazon region, with calculations of AERONET network, MODIS sensor and MERRA-2 reanalysis data. The results showed that MERRA-2 reanalysis is an excellent tool for calculating and providing the spatial distribution of aerosol direct radiative forcing. In addition, the difference between considering the reference state of the atmosphere without aerosol loading and with natural aerosol to obtain the aerosol direct radiative forcing is discussed. During the dry season, the monthly average direct forcing at the top of atmosphere varied from −9.60 to −4.20 Wm−2, and at the surface, it varied from −29.81 to −9.24 Wm−2, according to MERRA-2 reanalysis data and the reference state of atmosphere without aerosol loading. Already with the state of reference being the natural aerosols, the average direct forcing at the top of atmosphere varied from −5.15 to −1.18 Wm−2, and at the surface, it varied from −21.28 to −5.25 Wm−2; this difference was associated with the absorption of aerosols.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 2169-2178 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Xiong ◽  
X. H. Shen ◽  
Y. X. Bi ◽  
C. L. Kang ◽  
L. Z. Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract. The paper presents an analysis by using the methods of Eddy field calculation mean and wavelet maxima to detect seismic anomalies within the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data based on time and space. The distinguishing feature of the method of Eddy field calculation mean is that we can calculate "the total sum of the difference value" of "the measured value" between adjacent points, which could highlight the singularity within data. The identified singularities are further validated by wavelet maxima, which using wavelet transformations as data mining tools by computing the maxima that can be used to identify obvious anomalies within OLR data. The two methods has been applied to carry out a comparative analysis of OLR data associated with the earthquake recently occurred in Haiti on 12 January 2010. Combining with the tectonic explanation of spatial and temporal continuity of the abnormal phenomena, the analyzed results have indicated a number of singularities associated with the possible seismic anomalies of the earthquake and from the comparative experiments and analyses by using the two methods, which follow the same time and space, we conclude that the singularities observed from 19 to 24 December 2009 could be the earthquake precursor of Haiti earthquake.


2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianglei Huang ◽  
Norman G. Loeb ◽  
Huiwen Chuang

Abstract Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) daytime longwave (LW) radiances are determined from the difference between a total (TOT) channel (0.3–200 μm) measurement and a shortwave (SW) channel (0.3–5 μm) measurement, while nighttime LW radiances are obtained directly from the TOT channel. This means that a drift in the SW channel or the SW portion of the TOT channel could impact the daytime longwave radiances, but not the nighttime ones. This study evaluates daytime and nighttime CERES LW radiances for a possible secular drift in CERES LW observations using spectral radiances observed by Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). By examining the coincidental AIRS and CERES Flight Model 3 (FM3) measurements over the tropical clear-sky oceans for all of January and July months since 2005, a secular drift of about −0.11% yr−1 in the daytime CERES-FM3 longwave unfiltered radiance can be identified in the CERES Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) Edition 2 product. This provides an upper-bound estimation for the drift in daytime outgoing longwave radiation, which is approximately −0.323 W m−2 yr−1. This estimation is consistent with the independent assessment concluded by the CERES calibration team. Such secular drift has been greatly reduced in the latest CERES SSF Edition 3 product. Comparisons are conducted for the CERES window channel as well, and it shows essentially no drift. This study serves as a practical example illustrating how the measurements of spectrally resolved radiances can be used to help evaluate data products from other narrowband or broadband measurements.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4057-4072 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. W. Bowman ◽  
D. T. Shindell ◽  
H. M. Worden ◽  
J.F. Lamarque ◽  
P. J. Young ◽  
...  

Abstract. We use simultaneous observations of tropospheric ozone and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) sensitivity to tropospheric ozone from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) to evaluate model tropospheric ozone and its effect on OLR simulated by a suite of chemistry-climate models that participated in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Intercomparison Project (ACCMIP). The ensemble mean of ACCMIP models show a persistent but modest tropospheric ozone low bias (5–20 ppb) in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) and modest high bias (5–10 ppb) in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) relative to TES ozone for 2005–2010. These ozone biases have a significant impact on the OLR. Using TES instantaneous radiative kernels (IRK), we show that the ACCMIP ensemble mean tropospheric ozone low bias leads up to 120 mW m−2 OLR high bias locally but zonally compensating errors reduce the global OLR high bias to 39 ± 41 m Wm−2 relative to TES data. We show that there is a correlation (R2 = 0.59) between the magnitude of the ACCMIP OLR bias and the deviation of the ACCMIP preindustrial to present day (1750–2010) ozone radiative forcing (RF) from the ensemble ozone RF mean. However, this correlation is driven primarily by models whose absolute OLR bias from tropospheric ozone exceeds 100 m Wm−2. Removing these models leads to a mean ozone radiative forcing of 394 ± 42 m Wm−2. The mean is about the same and the standard deviation is about 30% lower than an ensemble ozone RF of 384 ± 60 m Wm−2 derived from 14 of the 16 ACCMIP models reported in a companion ACCMIP study. These results point towards a profitable direction of combining satellite observations and chemistry-climate model simulations to reduce uncertainty in ozone radiative forcing.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (13) ◽  
pp. 4939-4947 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Bantges ◽  
H. E. Brindley ◽  
X. H. Chen ◽  
X. L. Huang ◽  
J. E. Harries ◽  
...  

Abstract Differences between Earth’s global mean all-sky outgoing longwave radiation spectrum as observed in 1970 [Interferometric Infrared Spectrometer (IRIS)], 1997 [Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases (IMG)], and 2012 [Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Instrument (IASI)] are presented. These differences are evaluated to determine whether these are robust signals of multidecadal radiative forcing and hence whether there is the potential for evaluating feedback-type responses. IASI–IRIS differences range from +2 K in the atmospheric window (800–1000 cm−1) to −5.5 K in the 1304 cm−1 CH4 band center. Corresponding IASI–IMG differences are much smaller, at 0.2 and −0.8 K, respectively. More noticeably, IASI–IRIS differences show a distinct step change across the 1042 cm−1 O3 band that is not seen in IASI–IMG comparisons. This step change is a consequence of a difference in behavior when moving from colder to warmer scenes in the IRIS data compared to IASI and IMG. Matched simulations for the relevant periods using ERA reanalyses mimic the spectral behavior shown by IASI and IMG rather than by IRIS. These findings suggest that uncertainties in the spectral response of IRIS preclude the use of these data for quantitative assessments of forcing and feedback processes.


Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Kuai ◽  
Kevin W. Bowman ◽  
Helen M. Worden ◽  
Robert L. Herman ◽  
Susan S. Kulawik

The influence of the hydrological cycle in the greenhouse gas (GHG) effect of tropospheric ozone (O3) is quantified in terms of the O3 longwave radiative effect (LWRE), which is defined as the net reduction of top-of-atmosphere flux due to total tropospheric O3 absorption. The O3 LWRE derived from the infrared spectral measurements by Aura’s Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) show that the spatiotemporal variation of LWRE is relevant to relative humidity, surface temperature, and tropospheric O3 column. The zonally averaged subtropical LWRE is ~0.2 W m–2 higher than the zonally averaged tropical LWRE, generally due to lower water vapor concentrations and less cloud coverage at the downward branch of the Hadley cell in the subtropics. The largest values of O3 LWRE over the Middle East (>1 W/m2) are further due to large thermal contrasts and tropospheric ozone enhancements from atmospheric circulation and pollution. Conversely, the low O3 LWRE over the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (on average 0.4 W m–2) is due to strong water vapor absorption and cloudiness, both of which reduce the tropospheric O3 absorption in the longwave radiation. These results show that changes in the hydrological cycle due to climate change could affect the magnitude and distribution of ozone radiative forcing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-115
Author(s):  
Simon Whitburn

Spectrally resolved outgoing longwave radiation and its applications for the study of climate The ERC advanced “IASI-FT” project exploits the space-based instantaneous spectrally resolved observations provided by the family of IASI thermal infrared instruments to (1) monitor atmospheric composition changes and (2) establish climate records. More than 3.5 million of data are available each day, from which near-real-time information on the atmospheric state can be inferred.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Whitburn ◽  
Lieven Clarisse ◽  
Marie Bouillon ◽  
Sarah Safieddine ◽  
Maya George ◽  
...  

AbstractIn recent years, the interest has grown in satellite-derived hyperspectral radiance measurements for assessing the individual impact of climate drivers and their cascade of feedbacks on the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR). In this paper, we use 10 years (2008–2017) of reprocessed radiances from the infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer (IASI) to evaluate the linear trends in clear-sky spectrally resolved OLR (SOLR) in the range [645–2300] cm−1. Spatial inhomogeneities are observed in most of the analyzed spectral regions. These mostly reflected the natural variability of the atmospheric temperature and composition but long-term changes in greenhouse gases concentrations are also highlighted. In particular, the increase of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 led to significant negative trends in the SOLR of −0.05 to −0.3% per year in the spectral region corresponding to the ν2 and the ν3 CO2 and in the ν4 CH4 band. Most of the trends associated with the natural variability of the OLR can be related to the El Niño/Southern Oscillation activity and its teleconnections in the studied period. This is the case for the channels most affected by the temperature variations of the surface and the first layers of the atmosphere but also for the channels corresponding to the ν2 H2O and the ν3 O3 bands.


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