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Effect of clouds on the calculated vertical distribution of shortwave absorption in the tropics
Climate Physics Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA
Climate Physics Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA
Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean and Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
High vertical resolution profiles of cloud properties were obtained from cloud radars operated by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program on the islands of Nauru and Manus in the Tropical Western Pacific (TWP). Broadband flux calculations using a correlated k-distribution model were performed to estimate the effect of clouds on the total column and vertical distribution of shortwave absorption at these tropical sites. Sensitivity studies were performed to examine the role of precipitable water vapor, cloud vertical location, optical depth, and particle size on the shortwave (SW) column absorption. On average, observed clouds had little impact on the calculated total SW column absorption at the two sites, but a significant impact on the vertical distribution of SW absorption. Differences in the column amount, vertical profiles, and diurnal cycle of SW absorption at the two sites were due primarily to differences in cirrus cloud frequency.
Received 5 December 2007; accepted 26 June 2008; published 23 September 2008.
Citation: (2008), Effect of clouds on the calculated vertical distribution of shortwave absorption in the tropics, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D18203, doi:10.1029/2008JD009791.
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