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Effects of sea surface temperature, radiation, cloud microphysics, and diurnal variations on vertical structures of tropical tropospheric temperature: a two-dimensional equilibrium cloud-resolving modeling study

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Abstract

The effects of sea surface temperature (SST), radiation, cloud microphysics, and diurnal variations on the vertical structure of tropical tropospheric temperature are investigated by analyzing 10 two-dimensional equilibrium cloud-resolving model simulation data. The increase of SST, exclusion of diurnal variation of SST, and inclusion of diurnal variation of solar zenith angle, radiative effects of ice clouds, and ice microphysics could lead to tropical tropospheric warming and increase of tropopause height. The increase of SST and the suppression of its diurnal variation enhance the warming in the lower and upper troposphere, respectively, through increasing latent heat and decreasing IR cooling. The inclusion of diurnal variation of solar zenith angle increases the tropospheric warming through increasing solar heating. The inclusion of cloud radiative effects increases tropospheric warming through suppressing IR cooling in the mid and lower troposphere and enhancing solar heating in the upper troposphere. The inclusion of ice microphysics barely increases warming in the mid and lower troposphere because the warming from ice radiative effects is nearly offset by the cooling from ice microphysical effects, whereas it causes the large warming enhancement in the upper troposphere due to the dominance of ice radiative effects. The tropopause height is increased mainly through the large enhancement of IR cooling.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Drs. S. Gao and F. Ping at the institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China for providing us their 10 two-dimensional equilibrium cloud-resolving model simulation data, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. The manuscript contents are solely the opinions of the authors and do not constitute a statement of policy, decision, or position on behalf of NOAA or the US Government.

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  1. NOAA/NESDIS/STAR, 5200 Auth Road, Room 712, Camp Springs, MD, 20746, USA

    Xiaofan Li

  2. NOAA/NESDIS/Center for Satellite Applications and Research, Camp Springs, MD, USA

    Cheng-Zhi Zou

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  1. Xiaofan Li
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Correspondence to Xiaofan Li.

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Li, X., Zou, CZ. Effects of sea surface temperature, radiation, cloud microphysics, and diurnal variations on vertical structures of tropical tropospheric temperature: a two-dimensional equilibrium cloud-resolving modeling study. Meteorol Atmos Phys 105, 85–98 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-009-0039-2

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