Quantification of Global Cloud Properties With Use of Spherical Harmonic Functions
Abstract Spherical harmonic (SH) expansion is a useful tool to study any variable that has valid values at all latitudes and longitudes. The variable can be quantified as a sum of different spherical harmonic components, which are the spherical harmonic functions multiplied by their expansion coeffi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Earth and Space Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EA002718 |
| _version_ | 1797857353154953216 |
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| author | Jiachen Ding Ping Yang Lifan Wang Elaine Oran Norman G. Loeb William L. Smith Jr. Patrick Minnis |
| author_facet | Jiachen Ding Ping Yang Lifan Wang Elaine Oran Norman G. Loeb William L. Smith Jr. Patrick Minnis |
| author_sort | Jiachen Ding |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Spherical harmonic (SH) expansion is a useful tool to study any variable that has valid values at all latitudes and longitudes. The variable can be quantified as a sum of different spherical harmonic components, which are the spherical harmonic functions multiplied by their expansion coefficients. We find that the SH components of cloud radiative effect (CRE) have correlations with El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Hadley Circulation (HC). In particular, the expansion degree 2 (l=2 $l=2$) SH power spectrum component anomaly of CRE is strongly correlated with ENSO. The two dipole patterns appearing in the l=2 $l=2$ SH component anomaly map can be reasonably explained by a known mechanism of ENSO's impact on cloud properties. The l=3 $l=3$ and l=5 $l=5$ SH power spectrum components are correlated with HC intensity, whereas the l=6 $l=6$ and l=8 $l=8$ components are correlated with HC latitudinal widths. In ENSO warm and cold phases, the HC‐correlated SH components have opposite anomalies, which suggests the impact of ENSO on HC. This study illustrates that the SH expansion technique provides a different perspective to study the impacts of large‐scale atmospheric circulation on global cloud properties and radiative effects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T20:56:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6880c85036c8407099e262e44fe37994 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2333-5084 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T20:56:23Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Earth and Space Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-6880c85036c8407099e262e44fe379942023-03-29T19:08:34ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)Earth and Space Science2333-50842023-03-01103n/an/a10.1029/2022EA002718Quantification of Global Cloud Properties With Use of Spherical Harmonic FunctionsJiachen Ding0Ping Yang1Lifan Wang2Elaine Oran3Norman G. Loeb4William L. Smith Jr.5Patrick Minnis6Department of Atmospheric Sciences Texas A&M University College Station TX USADepartment of Atmospheric Sciences Texas A&M University College Station TX USADepartment of Physics & Astronomy Texas A&M University College Station TX USADepartment of Aerospace Engineering Texas A&M University College Station TX USANASA Langley Research Center Hampton VA USANASA Langley Research Center Hampton VA USANASA Langley Research Center Hampton VA USAAbstract Spherical harmonic (SH) expansion is a useful tool to study any variable that has valid values at all latitudes and longitudes. The variable can be quantified as a sum of different spherical harmonic components, which are the spherical harmonic functions multiplied by their expansion coefficients. We find that the SH components of cloud radiative effect (CRE) have correlations with El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Hadley Circulation (HC). In particular, the expansion degree 2 (l=2 $l=2$) SH power spectrum component anomaly of CRE is strongly correlated with ENSO. The two dipole patterns appearing in the l=2 $l=2$ SH component anomaly map can be reasonably explained by a known mechanism of ENSO's impact on cloud properties. The l=3 $l=3$ and l=5 $l=5$ SH power spectrum components are correlated with HC intensity, whereas the l=6 $l=6$ and l=8 $l=8$ components are correlated with HC latitudinal widths. In ENSO warm and cold phases, the HC‐correlated SH components have opposite anomalies, which suggests the impact of ENSO on HC. This study illustrates that the SH expansion technique provides a different perspective to study the impacts of large‐scale atmospheric circulation on global cloud properties and radiative effects.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EA002718spherical harmonic functionscloudradiative transfercloud radiative effect |
| spellingShingle | Jiachen Ding Ping Yang Lifan Wang Elaine Oran Norman G. Loeb William L. Smith Jr. Patrick Minnis Quantification of Global Cloud Properties With Use of Spherical Harmonic Functions Earth and Space Science spherical harmonic functions cloud radiative transfer cloud radiative effect |
| title | Quantification of Global Cloud Properties With Use of Spherical Harmonic Functions |
| title_full | Quantification of Global Cloud Properties With Use of Spherical Harmonic Functions |
| title_fullStr | Quantification of Global Cloud Properties With Use of Spherical Harmonic Functions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantification of Global Cloud Properties With Use of Spherical Harmonic Functions |
| title_short | Quantification of Global Cloud Properties With Use of Spherical Harmonic Functions |
| title_sort | quantification of global cloud properties with use of spherical harmonic functions |
| topic | spherical harmonic functions cloud radiative transfer cloud radiative effect |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EA002718 |
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