Abstract
The impact of water vapor continuum absorption in the atmosphere on CO2 radiative forcing is estimated on the basis of mass calculations of thermal radiative fluxes for summer conditions of 2021 in the Lower Volga Region. The set of 368 vertical atmospheric profiles (four per day over three summer months) is used for the simulation. A decrease in the CO2 contribution to the radiative impact on the Earth’s surface with an increase in the humidity is shown, which leads to weaker heating of the surface and stronger heating of the atmosphere. Thus, enhancement of the greenhouse effect due to an increase in the CO2 concentration at high humidity is to result in stronger heating of the atmosphere. The dominant role in this process belongs to the water vapor continuum, but not to the selective absorption in H2O bands.
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The work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences).
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Firsov, K.M., Chesnokova, T.Y. & Razmolov, A.A. Impact of Water Vapor Continuum Absorption on CO2 Radiative Forcing in the Atmosphere in the Lower Volga Region. Atmos Ocean Opt 36, 162–168 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1024856023030053
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1024856023030053