Cirrus-cloud thermostat for tropical sea surface temperature tested using satellite data

Cirrus clouds associated with tropical convection may shield the ocean from sunlight and therefore act as a thermostat to limit tropical SST (sea surface temperature) to less than 305 K. This hypothesis was tested using satellite radiance data. It was found that changes in the properties of cirrus clouds do not seem to be related to changes in SSTs. During the 1987 El Nino event large-scale atmospheric circulation changes rather than the direct effect of SSTs seemed to control large-scale changes in radiative effects of cirrus clouds. If averaged over the entire tropical Pacific, increases in surface evaporative cooling are stronger than decreases in solar heating owing to cirrus cloud variation. This would indicate that there is no cirrus cloud thermostat to tropical SSTs.