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Constraints on Southern Ocean Shortwave Cloud Feedback from the Hydrological Cycle
  • Chuyan Tan,
  • Daniel Thompson McCoy,
  • Gregory Elsaesser
Chuyan Tan
University of Wyoming
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Daniel Thompson McCoy
University of Wyoming

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Gregory Elsaesser
Columbia University APAM/NASA GISS
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Abstract

Shifts in Southern Ocean (SO, $40 - 85^{o}S$) shortwave cloud feedback ($SW_{FB}$) toward more positive values are the dominant contributor to higher effective climate sensitivity (ECS) in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) models. To provide an observational constraint on the SO $SW_{FB}$, we use a simplified physical model to connect SO $SW_{FB}$ with the response of column-integrated liquid water mass (LWP) to warming and the susceptibility of albedo to LWP in 50 CMIP5 and CMIP6 GCMs. In turn, we predict the responses of SO LWP using a cloud-controlling factor (CCF) model. The combination of the CCF model and radiative susceptibility explains about $50$\% of the variance in the GCM-simulated $SW_{FB}$ in the SO. Observations of SW radiation fluxes, LWP, and CCFs from reanalysis are used to constrain the SO $SW_{FB}$. The response of SO LWP to warming is constrained to $2.76\ -\ 4.19$ $g\ m^{-2}\ K^{-1}$, relative to a GCM prior of $0.64\ -\ 9.33$ $g\ m^{-2}\ K^{-1}$. The susceptibility of albedo to LWP is constrained to be $0.43\ -\ 0.90$ $ (kg\ m^{-2})^{-1}$, relative to $0.30\ -\ 3.91$ $(kg\ m^{-2})^{-1}$. The overall constraint on the contribution of SO to global mean $SW_{FB}$ is $-0.168\ -\ 0.051$ $W\ m^{-2}\ K^{-1}$, relative to $-0.277\ -\ 0.270$ $ W m^{-2} K^{-1}$. In summary, observations suggest SO $SW_{FB}$ is less likely to be as extremely positive as predicted by some CMIP6 GCMs, but more likely to range from moderate negative to weakly positive.
02 Dec 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
03 Dec 2023Published in ESS Open Archive