Insights into low-latitude cloud feedbacks from high-resolution models

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences

Volumn 373, Issue 2054, 2015, Pages

  Bretherton, Christopher S ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON   (United States)

Author keywords

Climate sensitivity; Cloud feedbacks; Cloud resolving models; Large eddy simulation

Indexed keywords

ATMOSPHERIC THERMODYNAMICS; BOUNDARY LAYERS; CARBON DIOXIDE; CLOUDS; FEEDBACK; GLOBAL WARMING; LARGE EDDY SIMULATION; TURBULENCE;

ATMOSPHERIC EMISSIVITY; CLIMATE SENSITIVITY; CLOUD FEEDBACKS; CLOUD RESOLVING MODEL; GLOBAL CLOUD RESOLVING MODEL; HIGH-RESOLUTION MODELS; HORIZONTAL GRID SPACING; MARINE BOUNDARY LAYER CLOUDS;

CLIMATE MODELS;

EID: 84943801339     PISSN: 1364503X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2014.0415     Document Type: Review

References (72)

1. Meehl GA et al. 2007 Global climate projections. In Climate change 2007: the physical science basis (eds S Solomon et al.), ch. 10. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
2. Flato G et al. 2013 Evaluation of climatemodels. In Climate change 2013: the physical science basis (eds TF Stocker et al.), ch. 9. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
3. Soden BJ, Held IM. 2006 An assessment of climate feedbacks in coupled ocean-atmosphere models. J. Climate 19, 3354-3360. (doi:10.1175/JCLI3799.1)
4. Cess RD et al. 1989 Interpretation of cloud-climate feedback as produced by 14 atmospheric general circulation models. Science 245, 513-516. (doi:10.1126/science.245.4917.513)
5. Soden BJ, Held IM, Colman R, Shell KM, Kiehl JT, Shields CA. 2008 Quantifying climate feedbacks using radiative kernels. J. Climate 21, 3504-3520. (doi:10.1175/2007JCLI2110)
6. Ringer MA, Andrews T, Webb MJ. 2014 Global-mean radiative feedbacks and forcing in atmosphere-only and coupled atmosphere-ocean climate change experiments. Geophys. Res. Lett. 41, 4035-4042. (doi:10.1002/2014GL060347)
7. Bony S, Dufresne J-L, Le Treut H, Morcrette J-J, Senior C. 2004 On dynamic and thermodynamic components of cloud changes. Clim. Dyn. 22, 71-86. (doi:10.1007/s00382-003- 0369-6)
8. Qu X, Hall A, Klein SA, Caldwell PM. 2014 On the spread of changes in marine low cloud cover in climate model simulations of the 21st century. Clim. Dyn. 42, 2603-2626. (doi:10.1007/s00382-013-1945-z)
9. Sherwood SC, Bony S, Dufresne J-L. 2014 Spread in climate model sensitivity traced to atmospheric convective mixing. Nature 505, 37-42. (doi:10.1038/nature12829)
10. Siebesma AP et al. 2003 A large-eddy simulation intercomparison study of shallow cumulus convection. J. Atmos. Sci. 60, 1201-1219. (doi:10.1175/1520-0469(2003)60<1201:ALESIS>2.0. CO;2)
11. Bretherton CS et al. 1999 An intercomparison of radiatively-driven entrainment and turbulence in a smoke cloud, as simulated by different numericalmodels. Quart. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 125, 391-423. (doi:10.1002/qj.49712555402)
12. Stevens B et al. 2005 Evaluation of large-eddy simulations via observations of nocturnal marine stratocumulus. Mon. Weather Rev. 133, 1443-1462. (doi:10.1175/MWR2930.1)
13. Ackerman AS et al. 2009 Large-eddy simulations of a drizzling, stratocumulus-topped marine boundary layer. Mon. Weather Rev. 137, 1083-1110. (doi:10.1175/2008MWR2582.1)
14. VanZanten M et al. 2010 Controls on precipitation and cloudiness in simulations of tradewind cumulus as observed during RICO. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 3, M04001. (doi:10.1029/ 2011MS000056)
15. Morrison H, Curry JA, Khvorostyanov VI. 2005 A new double-moment microphysics parameterization for application in cloud and climate models. Part I: Description. J. Atmos. Sci. 62, 1665-1677. (doi:10.1175/JAS3446.1)
16. Kogan YL, Khairoutdinov MP, Lilly DK, Kogan ZN, Liu Q. 1995 Modeling of stratocumulus cloud layers in a large eddy simulation model with explicit microphysics. J. Atmos. Sci. 52, 2923-2940. (doi:10.1175/1520-0469(1995)052<2923:MOSCLI>2.0.CO;2)
17. van der Dussen JJ et al. 2013 The GASS/EUCLIPSE model intercomparison of the stratocumulus transition as observed during ASTEX: LES results. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 5, 483-499. (doi:10.1002/jame.20033)
18. Blossey PN et al. 2013 Sensitivity of marine low clouds to an idealized climate change: the CGILS LES intercomparison. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 5, 234-258. (doi:10.1002/jame.20025)
19. Blossey PN, Bretherton CS, Wyant MC. 2009 Understanding subtropical low cloud response to a warmer climate in a superparameterized climate model. Part II: Column modeling with a cloud-resolving model. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 1, 8. (doi:10.3894/JAMES. 2009.1.8)
20. Xu K-M, Cheng A, Zhang M. 2010 Cloud-resolving simulation of low-cloud feedback to an increase in sea-surface temperature. J. Atmos. Sci. 67, 730-748. (doi:10.1175/2009JAS3239.1)
21. Rieck M, Nuijens L, Stevens B. 2012 Marine boundary-layer cloud feedbacks in a constant relative humidity atmosphere. J. Atmos. Sci. 69, 2538-2550. (doi:10.1175/JAS-D-11-0203.1)
22. Zhang M et al. 2013 CGILS: Results from the first phase of an international project to understand the physical mechanisms of low cloud feedbacks in general circulation models. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 5, 826-842. (doi:10.1002/2013MS000246)
23. Bretherton CS, Blossey PN, Jones CR. 2013 Mechanisms of marine low cloud sensitivity to idealized climate perturbations: a single-LES exploration extending the CGILS cases. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 5, 316-337. (doi:10.1002/jame.20019)
24. Bretherton CS, Blossey PN. 2014 Low cloud reduction in a greenhouse-warmed climate: results from Lagrangian LES of a subtropical marine cloudiness transition. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 6, 91-114. (doi:10.1002/2013MS000250)
25. Dussen JJ, de Roode SR, Dal Gesso S, Siebesma AP. 2015 An LES model study of the influence of the free troposphere on the stratocumulus response to a climate perturbation. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 7, 670-691. (doi:10.1002/2014MS000380)
26. Klein SA, Hartmann DL. 1993 The seasonal cycle of low stratiform clouds. J. Clim. 6, 1587-1606. (doi:10.1175/1520-0442(1993)006<1587:TSCOLS>2.0.CO;2)
27. Wood R, Bretherton CS. 2006 On the relationship between stratiform low cloud cover and lower tropospheric stability. J. Clim. 19, 6425-6432. (doi:10.1175/JCLI3988.1)
28. Kamae Y, Watanabe M. 2012 On the robustness of tropospheric adjustment in CMIP5 models. Geophys. Res. Lett. 39, L23808. (doi:10.1029/2012GL054275)
29. Myers TA, Norris JR. 2013 Observational evidence that enhanced free-tropospheric subsidence reduces marine boundary layer cloudiness. J. Clim. 26, 7507-7524. (doi:10.1175/ JCLI-D-12-00736.1)
30. Bony S, Dufresne JL. 2005 Marine boundary layer clouds at the heart of cloud feedback uncertainties in climate models. Geophys. Res. Lett. 32, L20806. (doi:10.1029/2005GL023851)
31. Christensen MW, Carrio GG, Stephens GL, Cotton WR. 2013 Radiative impacts of freetropospheric clouds on the properties of marine stratocumulus. J. Atmos. Sci. 70, 3102-3118. (doi:10.1175/JAS-D-12-0287.1)
32. Kamae Y, Watanabe M. 2013 Tropospheric adjustment to increasing CO2: its timescale and the role of land-sea contrast. Clim. Dyn. 41, 3007-3024. (doi:10.1007/s00382-012-1555-1)
33. Nuijens L, Stevens B. 2012 The influence of wind speed on shallow marine cumulus convection. J. Atmos. Sci. 69, 168-184. (doi:10.1175/JAS-D-11-02.1)
34. Wyant MC, Bretherton CS, Blossey PN. 2009 Understanding subtropical low cloud response to a warmer climate in a superparameterized climate model. Part I: Regime sorting and physical mechanisms. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 1, 7. (doi:10.3894/JAMES.2009.1.7)
35. Stevens B. 2007 On the growth of layers of non-precipitating cumulus convection. J. Atmos. Sci. 64, 2916-2931. (doi:10.1175/JAS3983.1)
36. Nuijens L, Serikov I, Hirsch L, Lonitz K, Stevens B. 2014 The distribution and variability of low-level cloud in the North Atlantic trades. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 140, 2364-2374. (doi:10.1002/qj.2307)
37. Kuang Z, Bretherton CS. 2006 A mass flux scheme view of a high-resolution simulation of transition from shallow to deep cumulus convection. J. Atmos. Sci. 63, 1895-1909. (doi:10.1175/JAS3723.1)
38. Andrews T, Gregory JM, Webb MJ, Taylor KE. 2012 Forcing, feedbacks and climate sensitivity in CMIP5 coupled atmosphere-ocean climatemodels. Geophys. Res. Lett. 39, L09712. (doi:10.1029/2012GL051607)
39. Zelinka MD, Klein SA, Taylor KE, Andrews T, Webb MJ, Gregory JM, Forster PM. 2013 Contributions of different cloud types to feedbacks and rapid adjustments in CMIP5. J. Clim. 26, 5007-5027. (doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00555.1)
40. Vial J, DuFresne J-L, Bony S. 2013 On the interpretation of inter-model spread in CMIP5 climate sensitivity estimates. Clim. Dyn. 41, 3339-3362. (doi:10.1007/s00382-013-1725-9)
41. Zhang M, Bretherton CS. 2008 Mechanisms of low cloud climate feedback in idealized singlecolumn simulations with the Community Atmospheric Model (CAM3). J. Clim. 21, 4859-4878. (doi:10.1175/2008JCLI2237.1)
42. Nuijens L, Medeiros B, Sandu I, Ahlgrimm M. 2015 The behavior of trade wind cloudiness in observations and models: the major cloud components and their variability. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 7, 600-616. (doi:10.1002/2014MS000390)
43. Brient F, Schneider T, Tan Z, Bony S. Submitted. Shallowness of tropical low clouds as a predictor of climate models' response to warming.
44. Stainforth DA et al. 2005 Uncertainty in predictions of the climate response to rising levels of greenhouse gases. Nature 433, 403-406. (doi:10.1038/nature03301)
45. Gettelman A, Kay JE, Shell KM. 2012 The evolution of climate sensitivity and climate feedbacks in the Community Atmosphere Model. J. Clim. 25, 1453-1469. (doi:10.1175/JCLID- 11-00197.1)
46. Zhao M. 2014 An investigation of the connections among convection, clouds, and climate sensitivity in a global climate model. J. Clim. 27, 1845-1861. (doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00145.1)
47. Webb MJ et al. 2015 The impact of parametrized convection on cloud feedback. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 373, 20140414. (doi:10.1098/rsta.2014.0414)
48. Tompkins AM, Craig GC. 1999 Sensitivity of tropical convection to sea surface temperature in the absence of large-scale flow. J. Clim. 12, 462-476. (doi:10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012<0462: SOTCTS>2.0.CO;2)
49. Kuang Z, Hartmann DL. 2007 Testing the fixed anvil temperature hypothesis in a cloudresolving model. J. Clim. 20, 2051-2057. (doi:10.1175/JCLI4124.1)
50. Hartmann DL, Larson K. 2002 An important constraint on tropical cloud-climate feedback. Geophys. Res. Lett. 29, 1951-1954. (doi:10.1029/2002GL015835)
51. Zelinka MD, Hartmann DL. 2010 Why is longwave cloud feedback positive? J. Geophys. Res. 115, D16117. (doi:10.1029/2010JD013817)
52. Lindzen RS, Chou M-D, Hou AY. 2001 Does the Earth have an adaptive infrared iris? Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc. 82, 417-432. (doi:10.1175/1520-0477(2001)082<0417:DTEHAA>2.3.CO;2)
53. Miura H, Tomita H, Nasuno T, Iga S, Satoh M. 2005 A climate sensitivity test using a global cloud-resolving model under an aquaplanet condition. Geophys. Res. Lett. 32, L19717. (doi:10.1029/2005GL023672)
54. Satoh M, Iga S, Tomita H, Tsushima Y, Noda AT. 2012 Response of upper clouds in global warming experiments obtained using a global nonhydrostatic model with explicit cloud processes. J. Clim. 25, 2178-2191. (doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00152.1)
55. Tsushima Y, Iga S, Tomita H, Satoh M, Noda AT, Webb MJ. 2014 High cloud increase in a perturbed SST experiment with a global nonhydrostatic model including explicit convective processes. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 6, 571-585. (doi:10.1002/2013MS000301)
56. Grabowski W. 2001 Coupling cloud processes with the large-scale dynamics using the cloud-resolving convection parameterization (CRCP). J. Atmos. Sci. 58, 978-997. (doi:10.1175/1520-0469(2001)058<0978:CCPWTL>2.0.CO;2)
57. Khairoutdinov MF, Randall DA. 2001 A cloud-resolving model as a cloud parameterization in the NCAR Community Climate System Model: preliminary results. Geophys. Res. Lett. 28, 3617-3620. (doi:10.1029/2001GL013552)
58. Khairoutdinov MF, DeMott C, Randall DA. 2005 Simulation of the atmospheric general circulation using a cloud-resolving model as a super-parameterization of physical processes. J. Atmos. Sci. 62, 2136-2154. (doi:10.1175/JAS3453.1)
59. Stan C, Khairoutdinov M, DeMott CA, Krishnamuthy V, Straus DM, Randall DA, Kinter III JL, Shukla J. 2010 An ocean-atmosphere climate simulation with an embedded cloud resolving model. Geophys. Res. Lett. 27, L01702. (doi:10.1029/2009GL040822)
60. Stan C, Xu L. 2014 Climate simulations and projections with the super-parameterized CCSM4. Env. Model. Software 60, 1234-1152. (doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2014.06.013)
61. Bretherton CS, Blossey PN, Stan C. 2014 Cloud feedbacks on greenhouse warming in the superparameterized climate model SP-CCSM4. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 6, 1185-1204. (doi:10.1002/2014MS000355)
62. Wyant MC, Khairoutdinov M, Bretherton CS. 2006 Climate sensitivity and cloud response of a GCM with a superparameterization. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L06714. (doi:10.1029/ 2005GL025464)
63. Wyant MC, Bretherton CS, Blossey PN, Khairoutdinov M. 2012 Fast cloud adjustment to increasing CO2 in a superparameterized climate model. J. Adv. Model Earth Syst. 4, M05001. (doi:10.1029/2011MS000092)
64. Zelinka MD, Klein SA, Hartmann DL. 2012 Computing and partitioning cloud feedbacks using cloud property histograms. Part I: cloud radiative kernels. J. Clim. 25, 3715-3735. (doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00248.1)
65. Sandu I, Stevens B. 2011 On the factors modulating the stratocumulus to cumulus transitions. J. Atmos. Sci. 68, 1865-1881. (doi:10.1175/2011jas3614.1)
66. Qu X, Hall A, Kein SA, Caldwell PM. 2014 The strength of the tropical inversion and its response to climate change in 18 CMIP5 models. Clim. Dyn. 45, 375-396. (doi:10.1007/ s00382-014-2441-9)
67. Soden BJ, Vecchi GA. 2011 The vertical distribution of cloud feedback in coupled oceanatmosphere models. Geophys. Res. Lett. 38, L12704. (doi:10.1029/2011GL046732)
68. Tompkins AM. 2001 Organization of tropical convection in low vertical wind shears: the role of water vapor. J. Atmos. Sci. 58, 529-545. (doi:10.1175/1520-0469(2001)058<0529: OOTCIL>2.0.CO;2)
69. Bretherton CS, Blossey PN, Khairoutdinov M. 2005 An energy-balance analysis of deep convective self-aggregation above uniform SST. J. Atmos. Sci. 62, 4273-4292. (doi:10.1175/ JAS3614.1)
70. Khairoutdinov MF, Emanuel KA. 2013 Rotating radiative-convective equilibrium simulated by a cloud-resolving model. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst. 5, 816-825. (doi:10.1002/2013MS000253)
71. Arnold N, Kuang Z, Tziperman E. 2013 Enhanced MJO-like variability at high SST. J. Clim. 26, 988-1001. (doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00272.1)
72. Myers TA, Norris JR. 2015 On the relationships between subtropical clouds and meteorology in observations and CMIP3 and CMIP5 models. J. Clim. 28, 2945-2967. (doi:10.1175/JCLID- 14-00475.1)