Open AccessRecent regional surface solar radiation dimming and brightening patterns: inter‐hemispherical asymmetry and a dimming in the Southern Hemisphere
Author(s) -
Hatzianastassiou N.,
Papadimas C. D.,
Matsoukas C.,
Pavlakis K.,
Fotiadi A.,
Wild M.,
Vardavas I.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
atmospheric science letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 45
ISSN - 1530-261X
DOI - 10.1002/asl.361
Subject(s) - southern hemisphere , northern hemisphere , climatology , radiative transfer , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , sky , asymmetry , geography , meteorology , physics , geology , optics , quantum mechanics
Abstract Recent variations in surface solar radiation (SSR) at the beginning of the 21st century (2000–2007) were determined at scales ranging from local/regional to hemispherical/global, on the basis of radiative transfer computations and information from satellites, reanalyses and surface measurements. Under all‐sky conditions, in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) there is no clear dimming/brightening signal after 2000, whereas in the SH there is a more clear dimming arising from both increasing clouds and aerosols. Dimming is observed over land and ocean in the Southern Hemisphere (SH), and over oceans in the NH, whereas a slight brightening occurred over NH land. However, opposite tendencies are found even within the same continent, indicating the need to assess SSR changes at regional/local scales apart from hemispherical/global ones. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society