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Annual Cycles of Surface Shortwave Radiative FluxesThe annual cycles of surface shortwave flux are investigated using the 8-yr dataset of the surface radiation budget (SRB) components for the period July 1983-June 1991. These components include the downward, upward, and net shortwave radiant fluxes at the earth's surface. The seasonal cycles are quantified in terms of principal components that describe the temporal variations and empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) that describe the spatial patterns. The major part of the variation is simply due to the variation of the insolation at the top of the atmosphere, especially for the first term, which describes 92.4% of the variance for the downward shortwave flux. However, for the second term, which describes 4.1% of the variance, the effect of clouds is quite important and the effect of clouds dominates the third term, which describes 2.4% of the variance. To a large degree the second and third terms are due to the response of clouds to the annual cycle of solar forcing. For net shortwave flux at the surface, similar variances are described by each term. The regional values of the EOFs are related to climate classes, thereby defining the range of annual cycles of shortwave radiation for each climate class.
Document ID
20080015888
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Wilber, Anne C.
(Analytical Services and Materials, Inc. Hampton, VA, United States)
Smith, G. Louis
(National Inst. of Aerospace Hampton, VA, United States)
Gupta, Shashi K.
(Analytical Services and Materials, Inc. Hampton, VA, United States)
Stackhouse, Paul W.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
February 1, 2006
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 509496.02.01.01.13
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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