We have studied the spatial and temporal variation of the surface longwave radiation (downwelling and net) over a 21-year period in the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean (40 S–40 N, 90 E-75 W). The fluxes were computed using a deterministic model for atmospheric radiation transfer, along with satellite data from the ISCCP-D2 database and reanalysis data from NCEP/NCAR (acronyms explained i...

The purpose of this paper is to put forward a new estimate, in the context of previous assessments, of the annual global mean energy budget. A description is provided of the source of each component to this budget. The top-ofatmosphere shortwave and longwave flux of energy is constrained by satellite observations. Partitioning of the radiative energy throughout the atmosphere is achieved throug...

A pond heat and temperature regulation (PHATR) model was designed to: (1) predict the temperature for earthen outdoor aquaculture ponds and (2) determine the size of energy transfer mechanisms affecting energy gains or losses for these ponds. The model solves a first order, no-linear differential equation using a 4th order Runge-Kutta numerical method and various input data (weather data, pond ...

The paper "ENSO surface shortwave radiation forcing over the tropical Pacific" by Pavlakis et al adds the shortwave component to their earlier study, published in this journal, which examined ENSO surface longwave radiation forcing. The paper is fine, but the results basically corroborate previously published work regarding the evolution of ENSO induced changes in atmospheric circulation, outgo...

Anomalies of precipitation, cloud, thermodynamic, and radiation variables are analyzed on the large spatial scale defined by the tropical oceans. In particular, relationships between the mean tropical oceanic precipitation anomaly and radiative anomalies are examined. It is found that tropical mean precipitation is well correlated with cloud properties and radiative fields. In particular, the t...

[1] Clear sky downwelling longwave radiation (Rldc) and cloudy sky downwelling longwave radiation (Rld) formulas were tested across eleven sites in Florida. The Brunt equation, using air vapor pressure and temperature measurements, provides the best Rldc estimates with a root mean square error of less than around 12 Wm 2 across all sites. The Crawford and Duchon’s cloudiness factor with Brunt e...

To elucidate physical processes responsible for the response of U.S. surface temperatures to El Niño– Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the surface energy balance is diagnosed from observations, with emphasis on the role of clouds, water vapor, and land surface properties associated with snow cover and soil moisture. Results for the winter season (December–February) indicate that U.S. surface temper...

Data from the Eastern Pacific Investigation of Climate Studies (EPIC) mooring array are used to evaluate the annual cycle of surface cloud forcing in the far eastern Pacific stratus cloud deck/cold tongue/ intertropical convergence zone complex. Data include downwelling surface solar and longwave radiation from 10 EPIC-enhanced Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) moorings from 8°S, 95°W to 12°N, 95...

This paper addresses the refinement and testing of a simple downwelling longwave radiation model. Oklahoma atmospheric surface-layer instrumentation system (OASIS) radiation data in combination with Oklahoma Mesonet weather data were used to evaluate various techniques for estimating downwelling longwave radiation, for daytime and nighttime as well as clear and cloudy skies. The Brutsaert [Wate...

Introduction Closing the surface energy budget (SEB) is one of the longest outstanding problems in micro-meteorology. At the earth’s surface the net radiation (QN), consisting of the budget of shortwave incoming (K), shortwave outgoing (K), longwave incoming (L) and longwave outgoing radiation (L), should be balanced by the transport of heat into the soil (G) and to the atmosphere in the form o...