On the Contribution of Aerosols and Clouds to Global Dimming and Brightening Using a Radiative Transfer Model, ISCCP-H Cloud and MERRA-2 Aerosol Optical Properties
The interdecadal changes of the incident solar radiation at the Earth’s surface (SSR) are mainly driven by changes in clouds and aerosols. In order to investigate their contribution to the SSR changes (global dimming and brightening or GDB), the FORTH radiative transfer model (RTM) is used to comput...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-08-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Sciences Proceedings |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4931/26/1/34 |
| _version_ | 1797241185958363136 |
|---|---|
| author | Michael Stamatis Nikolaos Hatzianastassiou Marios-Bruno Korras-Carraca Christos Matsoukas Martin Wild Ilias Vardavas |
| author_facet | Michael Stamatis Nikolaos Hatzianastassiou Marios-Bruno Korras-Carraca Christos Matsoukas Martin Wild Ilias Vardavas |
| author_sort | Michael Stamatis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The interdecadal changes of the incident solar radiation at the Earth’s surface (SSR) are mainly driven by changes in clouds and aerosols. In order to investigate their contribution to the SSR changes (global dimming and brightening or GDB), the FORTH radiative transfer model (RTM) is used to compute the SSR fluxes. The cloud input data were taken from satellite observations of ISCCP-H, while aerosols and meteorological data were taken from the MERRA-2 reanalysis dataset. The RTM operates on a monthly basis and in 0.5° × 0.625° latitude-longitude spatial resolution. The GDB was also computed keeping constant at their initial 1984 values, each input parameter that was examined, resulting in a GDB with the ‘frozen’ parameter. The contribution of each parameter to the GDB is defined as the subtraction of the frozen GDB from the base-run GDB, and the positive/negative values of the contribution indicate that the interdecadal variability of the examined parameter increased/decreased the SSR. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) produced a dimming in India, Amazonia, and S. China, whereas it induced a brightening in Europe and Mexico. On the other hand, the total cloud cover (TCC) changes caused a dimming over the Arctic, Australia, and the South Ocean against a brightening in Europe, Mexico, the Middle East, and South America. The global mean contribution of changing AOD is 0.37 W/m<sup>2</sup>, and for TCC, it is 4.7 W/m<sup>2</sup>, indicating that globally, the counteraction of cloud cover to the overall global dimming is larger. Opposite contributions to GDB from AOD and TCC may occur over specific regions, highlighting the complexity of the causes of the GDB phenomenon. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:19:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-944fda737946422ba0d1f925fa656a3e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-4931 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:19:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Sciences Proceedings |
| spelling | doaj.art-944fda737946422ba0d1f925fa656a3e2024-03-27T13:37:12ZengMDPI AGEnvironmental Sciences Proceedings2673-49312023-08-012613410.3390/environsciproc2023026034On the Contribution of Aerosols and Clouds to Global Dimming and Brightening Using a Radiative Transfer Model, ISCCP-H Cloud and MERRA-2 Aerosol Optical PropertiesMichael Stamatis0Nikolaos Hatzianastassiou1Marios-Bruno Korras-Carraca2Christos Matsoukas3Martin Wild4Ilias Vardavas5Laboratory of Meteorology & Climatology, Department of Physics, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceLaboratory of Meteorology & Climatology, Department of Physics, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceLaboratory of Meteorology & Climatology, Department of Physics, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, GreeceDepartment of Environment, University of the Aegean, 81100 Mytilene, GreeceInstitute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Physics, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, GreeceThe interdecadal changes of the incident solar radiation at the Earth’s surface (SSR) are mainly driven by changes in clouds and aerosols. In order to investigate their contribution to the SSR changes (global dimming and brightening or GDB), the FORTH radiative transfer model (RTM) is used to compute the SSR fluxes. The cloud input data were taken from satellite observations of ISCCP-H, while aerosols and meteorological data were taken from the MERRA-2 reanalysis dataset. The RTM operates on a monthly basis and in 0.5° × 0.625° latitude-longitude spatial resolution. The GDB was also computed keeping constant at their initial 1984 values, each input parameter that was examined, resulting in a GDB with the ‘frozen’ parameter. The contribution of each parameter to the GDB is defined as the subtraction of the frozen GDB from the base-run GDB, and the positive/negative values of the contribution indicate that the interdecadal variability of the examined parameter increased/decreased the SSR. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) produced a dimming in India, Amazonia, and S. China, whereas it induced a brightening in Europe and Mexico. On the other hand, the total cloud cover (TCC) changes caused a dimming over the Arctic, Australia, and the South Ocean against a brightening in Europe, Mexico, the Middle East, and South America. The global mean contribution of changing AOD is 0.37 W/m<sup>2</sup>, and for TCC, it is 4.7 W/m<sup>2</sup>, indicating that globally, the counteraction of cloud cover to the overall global dimming is larger. Opposite contributions to GDB from AOD and TCC may occur over specific regions, highlighting the complexity of the causes of the GDB phenomenon.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4931/26/1/34aerosolscloudsglobal dimming and brighteningradiation transfer modelMERRA-2ISCCP-H |
| spellingShingle | Michael Stamatis Nikolaos Hatzianastassiou Marios-Bruno Korras-Carraca Christos Matsoukas Martin Wild Ilias Vardavas On the Contribution of Aerosols and Clouds to Global Dimming and Brightening Using a Radiative Transfer Model, ISCCP-H Cloud and MERRA-2 Aerosol Optical Properties Environmental Sciences Proceedings aerosols clouds global dimming and brightening radiation transfer model MERRA-2 ISCCP-H |
| title | On the Contribution of Aerosols and Clouds to Global Dimming and Brightening Using a Radiative Transfer Model, ISCCP-H Cloud and MERRA-2 Aerosol Optical Properties |
| title_full | On the Contribution of Aerosols and Clouds to Global Dimming and Brightening Using a Radiative Transfer Model, ISCCP-H Cloud and MERRA-2 Aerosol Optical Properties |
| title_fullStr | On the Contribution of Aerosols and Clouds to Global Dimming and Brightening Using a Radiative Transfer Model, ISCCP-H Cloud and MERRA-2 Aerosol Optical Properties |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Contribution of Aerosols and Clouds to Global Dimming and Brightening Using a Radiative Transfer Model, ISCCP-H Cloud and MERRA-2 Aerosol Optical Properties |
| title_short | On the Contribution of Aerosols and Clouds to Global Dimming and Brightening Using a Radiative Transfer Model, ISCCP-H Cloud and MERRA-2 Aerosol Optical Properties |
| title_sort | on the contribution of aerosols and clouds to global dimming and brightening using a radiative transfer model isccp h cloud and merra 2 aerosol optical properties |
| topic | aerosols clouds global dimming and brightening radiation transfer model MERRA-2 ISCCP-H |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4931/26/1/34 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaelstamatis onthecontributionofaerosolsandcloudstoglobaldimmingandbrighteningusingaradiativetransfermodelisccphcloudandmerra2aerosolopticalproperties AT nikolaoshatzianastassiou onthecontributionofaerosolsandcloudstoglobaldimmingandbrighteningusingaradiativetransfermodelisccphcloudandmerra2aerosolopticalproperties AT mariosbrunokorrascarraca onthecontributionofaerosolsandcloudstoglobaldimmingandbrighteningusingaradiativetransfermodelisccphcloudandmerra2aerosolopticalproperties AT christosmatsoukas onthecontributionofaerosolsandcloudstoglobaldimmingandbrighteningusingaradiativetransfermodelisccphcloudandmerra2aerosolopticalproperties AT martinwild onthecontributionofaerosolsandcloudstoglobaldimmingandbrighteningusingaradiativetransfermodelisccphcloudandmerra2aerosolopticalproperties AT iliasvardavas onthecontributionofaerosolsandcloudstoglobaldimmingandbrighteningusingaradiativetransfermodelisccphcloudandmerra2aerosolopticalproperties |