Transcript Introduction to Climate: Overview

Introduction to Climate: Overview
Radiation Pathways and ‘Budget’
(342 W/m2 is the total Solar 1,370 W/m2 averaged over the Earths’ Surface)
Seasonal Radiation
Solar
Radiation
Drives the
Large Scale
Flow
Unequal Distribution of Solar Radiation, compounded by reflection
WATER
Atmospheric Temperature Profile: US “Standard” Atmosphere.
From Liou
Cirrus cloud level.
High cold clouds, visible optical depth range
0.001 to 10, emits IR to surface in the IR window.
SOLAR ALBEDO OF VARIOUS SURFACES
Distribution of
Radiation
Global Climate Models: The Job
Global Climate Models: The DOE ARM PROGRAM
Mission Statement
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF) has been designated a national
user facility for the purpose of providing this unique asset for the study of global change to the broader national
and international research community. Research at this facility will include the study of alterations in climate,
land productivity, oceans or other water resources, atmospheric chemistry, and ecological systems that may
alter the capacity of the Earth to sustain life. Global change research also includes the study, monitoring,
assessment, prediction, and information management activities to describe and understand:
•The interactive physical, chemical, and biological processes that regulate the total Earth system
•The unique environment that the Earth provides for life
•The changes that are occurring in the Earth system and the environment and how these changes are influenced by human
actions.
Simple Model for Earth’s Atmosphere
Simple Surface Temperature Calculation Assuming Solar Absorption
only at the surface, IR emission by the atmosphere and Earth’s
surface, and IR absorption by the Atmosphere.
S0 = 1376 W/m2=Solar
Irradiance at the TOA and
=Stefan-Boltzmann
constant
Solar Radiation Components:
Direct beam, total, and diffuse irradiance.
Sun image (NRL) from SKYLAB,
1973, 304 nm.
http://solardat.uoregon.edu/SolarRadiationBasics.html
Direct Beam Irradiance (detector normal to sun rays) like measuring laser irradiance.
Total Irradiance, also called Global Irradiance, direct + diffuse (detector horizontal)
Diffuse Irradiance (detector horizontal)
Mauna Loa Hawaii on a
relatively clear day…
Blue=Direct Beam Irradiance
(detector normal to sun rays)
Yellow=Total Irradiance, direct
+ diffuse (detector horizontal)
Orange=Diffuse Irradiance
(detector horizontal)
GREEN=Diffuse Longwave
irradiance from the
atmosphere.
http://cmdl1.cmdl.noaa.gov:8000/www/all/rad/
Mauna Loa Hawaii on a
partly cloudy day…
Blue=Direct Beam Irradiance
(detector normal to sun rays)
Yellow=Total Irradiance, direct
+ diffuse (detector horizontal)
Orange=Diffuse Irradiance
(detector horizontal)
GREEN=Diffuse Longwave
irradiance from the
atmosphere.
http://cmdl1.cmdl.noaa.gov:8000/www/all/rad/
Boulder CO on a
relatively clear day …
Blue=Direct Beam Irradiance
(detector normal to sun rays)
Yellow=Total Irradiance, direct
+ diffuse (detector horizontal)
Orange=Diffuse Irradiance
(detector horizontal)
GREEN=Diffuse Longwave
irradiance from the
atmosphere.
http://cmdl1.cmdl.noaa.gov:8000/www/all/rad/
Boulder CO on a partly
cloudy day…
Blue=Direct Beam Irradiance
(detector normal to sun rays)
Yellow=Total Irradiance, direct
+ diffuse (detector horizontal)
Orange=Diffuse Irradiance
(detector horizontal)
GREEN=Diffuse Longwave
irradiance from the
atmosphere.
http://cmdl1.cmdl.noaa.gov:8000/www/all/rad/
William Ruddiman, The Ruddiman Hypothesis.
The Anthropogenic Greenhouse Emissions Era Began 8
Thousands of Years Ago for CO2 and 3 Thousand years ago for
CH4.
These emissions have prevented North America and Europe from
experiencing 3 to 4 C cooling and an ice in North East Canada.
Agriculture would be difficult without these emissions.
CO2 comes from burning, and CH4 (swamp gas) comes from the
decomposition of vegetation in standing water (rice fields,
wetlands, soon the tundra). Much CH4 is stored as methane-ice in
the ocean. Belching animals also make CH4.
It is a “good thing” that we saved ourselves from the ice age.
Too much of a “good thing” could cook us. Should we slow our
pace of fossil fuel use to better spread our effects over time?
William Ruddiman is a marine geologist. He received his PhD from Columbia
University, and is currently Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences at the
University of Virginia. He was the Chair of this department from 1993 -1996. Prior to
this, he was a senior research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Observatory in New
York, a program associate with the National Science Foundation, and a Senior
Scientist/Oceanographer with the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office in Maryland
From Scientific American, March 2005, Ruddiman’s article.
THE CARBON CYCLE: WHERE DOES CO2 GO???
CARBON
RESERVOIRS
(GIGATONS)
C Exchange Rate
CLIMATE DATA PUBLISHED ON THE IPCC WEBSITE
Recognizing the problem of potential global climate change, the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) in 1988. It is open to all members of the UN and WMO.
The role of the IPCC is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and
transparent basis the scientific, technical and socio-economic information
relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced
climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and
mitigation. The IPCC does not carry out research nor does it monitor
climate related data or other relevant parameters. It bases its assessment
mainly on peer reviewed and published scientific/technical literature.
See http://www.ipcc.ch/present/graphics.htm
IR IMAGE OF
GULF STREAM
OCEAN
CURRENT
See:
http://marine.rutgers.edu/mrs/sat_data/