Showing papers by "Gerald L. Potter published in 1995"
State University of New York System1, Langley Research Center2, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory3, Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory4, Bureau of Meteorology5, National Center for Atmospheric Research6, Pennsylvania State University7, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts8, University of California, San Diego9
TL;DR: Collocated satellite and surface measurements of solar radiation at five geographically diverse locations showed significant solar absorption by clouds, resulting in about 25 watts per square meter more global-mean absorption by the cloudy atmosphere than predicted by theoretical models.
Abstract: There has been a long history of unexplained anomalous absorption of solar radiation by clouds. Collocated satellite and surface measurements of solar radiation at five geographically diverse locations showed significant solar absorption by clouds, resulting in about 25 watts per square meter more global-mean absorption by the cloudy atmosphere than predicted by theoretical models. It has often been suggested that tropospheric aerosols could increase cloud absorption. But these aerosols are temporally and spatially heterogeneous, whereas the observed cloud absorption is remarkably invariant with respect to season and location. Although its physical cause is unknown, enhanced cloud absorption substantially alters our understanding of the atmosphere's energy budget.
406 citations