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Intercomparison of shortwave radiative transfer schemes in global aerosol modeling

In this study we examine the performance of 31 global model radiative transfer schemes in cloudfree conditions with prescribed gaseous absorbers and no aerosols (Rayleigh atmosphere), with prescribed scatteringonly aerosols, and with more absorbing aerosols. Results are compared to benchmark results from high-resolution, multiangular line-by-line radiation models. For purely scattering
aerosols, model bias relative to the line-by-line models in the top-of-the atmosphere aerosol radiative forcing ranges from roughly −10 to 20 %, with over- and underestimates of radiative cooling at lower and higher solar zenith angle, respectively. Inter-model diversity (relative standard deviation) increases from ~ 10 to 15% as solar zenith angle decreases. Inter-model diversity in atmospheric and surface forcing decreases with increased aerosol absorption, indicating that the treatment of multiple-scattering is more variable
than aerosol absorption in the models considered. Aerosol
radiative forcing results from multi-stream models are generally
in better agreement with the line-by-line results than the
simpler two-stream schemes. Considering radiative fluxes,
model performance is generally the same or slightly better
than results from previous radiation scheme intercomparisons.
However, the inter-model diversity in aerosol radiative
forcing remains large, primarily as a result of the treatment of
multiple-scattering. Results indicate that global models that
estimate aerosol radiative forcing with two-stream radiation
schemes may be subject to persistent biases introduced by
these schemes, particularly for regional aerosol forcing.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa.de:bsz:15-qucosa-177455
Date25 August 2015
CreatorsRandles, Cynthia A., Kinne, Stefan, Myhre, Gunnar, Schulz, Michael, Stier, Philip, Fischer, Jürgen, Doppler, Lionel, Highwood, Eleanor, Ryder, Claire, Harris, Bethan, Huttunen, Jani, Ma, Y., Pinker, Rachel T., Mayer, Bernhard, Neubauer, David, Hitzenberger, Regina, Oreopoulos, Lazaros, Lee, Dongmin, Pitari, Giovanni, Di Genova, Glauco, Quaas, Johannes, Rose, Fred G., Kato, Seiji, Rumbold, Steve T., Vardavas, Ilias, Hatzianastassiou, Nikos, Matsoukas, Christos, Yu, Hongbin, Zhang, F., Zhang, Hua, Lu, P.
ContributorsMorgan State University, Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Lab, Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie,, Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO),, Meteorologisk Institutt,, University of Oxford, Department of Physics, Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Weltraumwissenschaften, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL), University of Reading, Department of Meteorology, Finnish Meteorological Institute,, University of Maryland, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Meteorologischen Institut, University of Vienna, ExoLife, University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, NASA GSFC Climate and Radiation Laboratory,, Seoul National University,, University of L’Aquila, Department of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Space Academy Foundation, Fucino Space Center, Universität Leipzig, Institut für Meteorologie, Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI),, Copernicus Publications,, NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC),, UK Met Office (UKMO) , Hadley Center, University of Crete, Department of Physics, University of Ioannina, Department of Physics, University of the Aegean, Department of Environment, University of Maryland, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), National Climate Center, Laboratory for Climate Studies
PublisherUniversitätsbibliothek Leipzig
Source SetsHochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typedoc-type:article
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceAtmospheric chemistry and physics (2013) 13, S. 2347-2379

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