A simulation experiment is conducted to inquire into the mean climate state and likely trends in atmospheric infrared radiation. Up- and down-welling spectra at five vertical levels from surface to the top of the atmosphere are rigorously calculated from climate model simulated atmosphere for a 25-year period. Tracing the radiation flux vertically and spectrally renders a dissection of the greenhouse effect of the Earth atmosphere and its change due to climate forcings and feedbacks. This paper underscores the stratosphere’s radiative-energetic role in transient climate variations, quantitatively measures the time it takes to detect various aspects of climate change from spaceborn radiometric measurements, and suggests a new way for monitoring long-term changes in stratospheric water vapor. [Huang, Y., 2012, A simulated climatology of spectrally decomposed atmospheric infrared radiation, in press at Journal of Climate]
About the author
Prof. Yi Huang is faculty member in our department focusing on atmospheric radiation and physical climatology. For more information about him, his research group and his research please visit his website.