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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 35,
L08711,
6 PP., 2008
doi:10.1029/2008GL033454
Role of water vapor feedback on the amplitude of season cycle in the global mean surface air temperature
School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
We have analyzed the seasonal variations of global mean surface air temperature (SAT) and surface energy budgets of 17 AR4 models. Considerable differences in the amplitude of seasonal cycle (A) in the global mean SAT in the pre-industrial control simulations among the models have been traced, to a large degree, to differences in their simulated clear-sky downward longwave radiation (LW ↓) and latent heat flux (LH). We suggest that water vapor feedback process influence the seasonal changes of SAT through its roles on the seasonal variations of LW ↓ and LH. This implies that the simulated seasonal change of global mean SAT might contain a clue about the sensitivity of water vapor feedback and the A of in SAT thus provides some constraint on climate sensitivity since both are subject to the same feedback process.
Received 29 January 2008; accepted 18 March 2008; published 23 April 2008.
Citation: (2008), Role of water vapor feedback on the amplitude of season cycle in the global mean surface air temperature, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L08711, doi:10.1029/2008GL033454.
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