Riehl and Malkus Revisited: The Role of Cloud-Radiative Effects

Needham, Michael Robert; Randall, David A.

doi:10.1002/essoar.10506726.1

Cited by 2 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Such a circulation can transport moisture against the gradient, into humid regions, which favors increased precipitation and cloudiness. This type of cloud-longwave feedback is discussed in detail by Needham and Randall (2021) in a companion to this study.…”

Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 81%

“…Future studies should focus on investigating this hypothesis through mechanism-denial experiments which may help to demonstrate causality in the relationship we have shown between ACRE and tropical precipitation. Needham and Randall (2021). "Control" refers to a simulation performed with a fixed SST of 300 K, no rotation, and uniform insolation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…NEEDHAM AND RANDALL 10.1029/2021GL094004 6 of 9 The cloud-longwave feedback described by Needham and Randall (2021) may contribute to the well-documented relationship between precipitation and CRH. Humid regions promote the formation of clouds, which in turn absorb radiation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…All rights reserved. In a companion to this study, Needham and Randall (2021) discuss this type of feedback in the context of a set of idealized simulations. They find that the ACRE in extremely humid regions is powerful enough to change the sign of the net radiation tendency, which leads to a convergence of energy into the atmosphere.…”

Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

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Linking Atmospheric Cloud Radiative Effects and Tropical Precipitation

Needham

Randall

2021

Geophysical Research Letters

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Work in recent decades has demonstrated a robust relationship between tropical precipitation and the column relative humidity (CRH). This study identifies a similar relationship between CRH and the atmospheric cloud radiative effect (ACRE) calculated from satellite observations. Like precipitation, the ACRE begins to increase rapidly when CRH exceeds a critical value near 75%. We show that the ACRE can be estimated from CRH, similar to the way that CRH has been used to estimate precipitation. Our method reproduces the annual mean spatial structure of ACRE in the tropics, and skillfully estimates the mean ACRE on monthly and daily time scales in six regions of the tropics.We propose that the exponential dependence of precipitation on CRH may be partially explained cloud-longwave feedbacks, which facilitate a shift from convective to stratiform conditions.

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Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

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Linking Atmospheric Cloud Radiative Effects and Tropical Precipitation

Needham

Randall

2021

Geophysical Research Letters

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Tropical Deep Convection, Cloud Feedbacks and Climate Sensitivity

Stephens,

Shiro,

Hakuba

et al. 2024

Surv Geophys

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This paper is concerned with how the diabatically-forced overturning circulations of the atmosphere, established by the deep convection within the tropical trough zone (TTZ), first introduced by Riehl and (Malkus) Simpson, in Contr Atmos Phys 52:287–305 (1979), fundamentally shape the distributions of tropical and subtropical cloudiness and the changes to cloudiness as Earth warms. The study first draws on an analysis of a range of observations to understand the connections between the energetics of the TTZ, convection and clouds. These observations reveal a tight coupling of the two main components of the diabatic heating, the cloud component of radiative heating, shaped mostly by high clouds formed by deep convection, and the latent heating associated with the precipitation. Interannual variability of the TTZ reveals a marked variation that connects the depth of the tropical troposphere, the depth of convection, the thickness of high clouds and the TOA radiative imbalance. The study examines connections between this convective zone and cloud changes further afield in the context of CMIP6 model experiments of climate warming. The warming realized in the CMIP6 SSP5-8.5 scenario multi-model experiments, for example, produces an enhanced Hadley circulation with increased heating in the zone of tropical deep convection and increased radiative cooling and subsidence in the subtropical regions. This impacts low cloud changes and in turn the model warming response through low cloud feedbacks. The pattern of warming produced by models, also influenced by convection in the tropical region, has a profound influence on the projected global warming.

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Riehl and Malkus Revisited: The Role of Cloud-Radiative Effects

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Linking Atmospheric Cloud Radiative Effects and Tropical Precipitation

Linking Atmospheric Cloud Radiative Effects and Tropical Precipitation

Tropical Deep Convection, Cloud Feedbacks and Climate Sensitivity

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