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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 32, L21702, doi:10.1029/2005GL023847, 2005

A multi-data comparison of shortwave climate forcing changes

E. Pallé

Big Bear Solar Observatory, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, USA


P. Montañés-Rodriguez

Big Bear Solar Observatory, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, USA


P. R. Goode

Big Bear Solar Observatory, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey, USA


S. E. Koonin

W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA


M. Wild

Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science ETH, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland


S. Casadio

Institute for Geophysics, Astrophysics, and Meteorology (IGAM), Karl-Franzens University of Graz, Graz, Austria


Abstract

Traditionally the Earth's reflectance has been assumed to be roughly constant, but large decadal variability, not reproduced by current climate models, has been reported lately from a variety of sources. We compare here the available data sets related to Earth's reflectance, in order to assess the observational constraints on the models. We find a consistent picture among all data sets of an albedo decreased during 1985–2000 between 2–3 and 6–7 W/m 2, which is highly climatically significant. The largest discrepancy among the data sets occurs during 2000–2004, when some present an increasing reflectance trend, while CERES observations show a steady decrease of about 2 W/m 2.

Received 17 June 2005; accepted 2 September 2005; published 2 November 2005.

Index Terms: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906); 0360 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Radiation: transmission and scattering; 3305 Atmospheric Processes: Climate change and variability (1616, 1635, 3309, 4215, 4513); 3309 Atmospheric Processes: Climatology (1616, 1620, 3305, 4215, 8408).

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Citation: Pallé, E., P. Montañés-Rodriguez, P. R. Goode, S. E. Koonin, M. Wild, and S. Casadio (2005), A multi-data comparison of shortwave climate forcing changes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L21702, doi:10.1029/2005GL023847.