Premium
Decomposing Effective Radiative Forcing Due to Aerosol Cloud Interactions by Global Cloud Regimes
Author(s) -
Langton Tom,
Stier Philip,
WatsonParris Duncan,
Mulcahy Jane P.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2021gl093833
Subject(s) - forcing (mathematics) , radiative forcing , aerosol , radiative transfer , environmental science , cloud forcing , cloud computing , atmospheric sciences , climatology , climate model , meteorology , climate change , physics , geology , computer science , oceanography , quantum mechanics , operating system
Quantifying effective radiative forcing due to aerosol‐cloud interactions (E E R F A C I ) remains a largely uncertain process, and the magnitude remains unconstrained in general circulation models. Previous studies focus on the magnitude ofE R F A C Iarising from all cloud types, or examine it in the framework of dynamical regimes. Aerosol forcing due to aerosol‐cloud interactions in the HadGEM3‐GA7.1 global climate model is decomposed into several global observational cloud regimes. Regimes are assigned to model gridboxes and forcing due to aerosol‐cloud interactions is calculated on a regime‐by‐regime basis with a 20‐year averaging period. Patterns of regime occurrence are in good agreement with satellite observations. ERF ACI is then further decomposed into three terms, representing radiative changes within a given regime, transitions between different cloud regimes, and nonlinear effects. The total global mean ERF ACI is − 1.03 Wm −2 . When decomposed, simulated ERF ACI is greatest in the thick stratocumulus regime (−0.51 Wm −2 ).