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Radiative effects of polar stratospheric cloudsRadiative transfer calculations are performed for polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) using newly acquired PSC properties and polar atmospheric data. PSC radiative effects depend strongly on upwelling thermal radiation and vary from infrared heating over warm polar surfaces, such as oceans, to cooling over cold surfaces, such as the Antarctic plateau. Heating and cooling rates of nitric acid PSCs are smaller than + or - 0.1 K/day. Rates for optically thicker ice PSCs vary from 1.0 to -0.2 K/day, those for orographically forced ice PSCs even from 3.0 to -0.5 K/day. Frequently observed optically thick cirrus decks near the tropopause provide a very cold radiative surface. These clouds not only act to prevent heating and enhance cooling in ice PSCs to -0.5 K/day and orographic ice PSCs to 2 K/day, but such cirrus cloud decks also cool the entire stratosphere by up to -0.5 K/day over warm surfaces, even in the absence of PSCs.
Document ID
19900041424
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Kinne, S.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Toon, O. B.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1990
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters, Supplement
Volume: 17
ISSN: 0094-8276
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
90A28479
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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