11th Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography

Monday, 15 October 2001
Radiative impact of clouds and water vapor variations above 300 mb from long-term NVAP and ISCCP observations.
G. Garrett Campbell, CIRA/Colorado State Univ., Ft. Collins, CO; and T. H. Vonder Haar, J. Fosythe, A. Kankiewicz, R. Engelen, and S. Woo
Poster PDF (320.1 kB)
The NASA Water Vapor Data set now includes an estimates of water vapor above 300mb. Similarly the International Cloud Climatology Project and other cloud climatology estimates high level clouds at those levels in the atmosphere. Using the day to day and month to month fluctuations in these fields we have estimated the radiative impact of these fluctuations around the mean climate situation. We see that changes in cloud properties dominate the radiative impact of water vapor on cloudy days. But that significant radiation changes occur on clear days due to water vapor changes. Ultimately this paper addresses the questions for cloud and water vapor feedback in the Earth's climate system.

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