Sensitivities of cloud radiative effects to large-scale meteorology and aerosols from global observations

Abstract ∘  N–60∘  S) satellite observations and reanalysis data using statistical learning. A regularized linear regression (ridge regression) is shown to skillfully predict anomalies of shortwave (R 2 = 0.63) and longwave cloud radiative effects (CREs) (R 2 = 0.72) in independent test data on the basis of 28 CCFs, including aerosol proxies. The sensitivity of CREs to selected CCFs is quantified and analyzed. CRE sensitivities to sea surface temperature and estimated inversion strength are particularly pronounced in low-cloud regions and generally in agreement with previous studies. The analysis of CRE sensitivities to three-dimensional wind field anomalies reflects the fact that CREs in tropical ascent regions are mainly driven by variability of large-scale vertical velocity in the upper troposphere. In the subtropics, CRE is sensitive to free-tropospheric zonal and meridional wind anomalies, which are likely to encapsulate information on synoptic variability that influences subtropical cloud systems by modifying wind shear and thus turbulence and dry-air entrainment in stratocumulus clouds, as well as variability related to midlatitude cyclones. Different proxies for aerosols are analyzed as CCFs, with satellite-derived aerosol proxies showing a larger CRE sensitivity than a proxy from an aerosol reanalysis, likely pointing to satellite aerosol retrieval biases close to clouds, leading to overestimated aerosol sensitivities. Sensitivities of shortwave CREs to all aerosol proxies indicate a pronounced cooling effect from aerosols in stratocumulus regions that is counteracted to a varying degree by a longwave warming effect. The analysis may guide the selection of CCFs in future sensitivity analyses aimed at constraining cloud feedback and climate forcings from aerosol–cloud interactions using data from both observations and global climate models.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Sensitivities of cloud radiative effects to large-scale meteorology and aerosols from global observations ; volume:23 ; number:18 ; year:2023 ; pages:10775-10794 ; extent:20 ; Atmospheric chemistry and physics ; 23, Heft 18 (2023), 10775-10794 (gesamt 20)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Andersen, Hendrik ; Cermak, Jan ; Douglas, Alyson ; Myers, Timothy A. ; Nowack, Peer ; Stier, Philip ; Wall, Casey J. ; Wilson Kemsley, Sarah

Further information

• DOI: 10.5194/acp-23-10775-2023
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023100504210018014334
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:55 AM CEST