Data Associated with "The Key Role of Cloud-Climate Coupling in Extratropical Sea Surface Temperature Variability"
Date
2021
Authors
Boehm, Chloe
Thompson, David W.J.
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Journal ISSN
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Abstract
Cloud radiative effects have long been known to play a key role in governing the mean
climate. In recent years, it has become clear that they also contribute to climate variability in the
tropics. Here we build on recent work and probe the role of cloud radiative effects in extratropical
sea-surface temperature (SST) variability. The impact of cloud radiative effects on climate
variability is explored in ‘cloud-locking’ simulations run on an Earth System Model. The method
involves comparing the output from two climate simulations: one in which clouds are coupled to
the atmospheric circulation and another in which clouds are prescribed and thus decoupled from
the flow. The results reveal that coupling between cloud radiative effects and the atmospheric
circulation leads to widespread increases in the amplitudes of extratropical SST variability from
monthly to decadal timescales. Notably, the amplitude of monthly to decadal variability over both
the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans is between ~25-40% larger when clouds are coupled
to the circulation. The increases are consistent with the ‘reddening’ of cloud shortwave radiative
effects that arises when clouds interact with the large-scale circulation. The results suggest that a
notable fraction of observed Northern Hemisphere sea-surface temperature variability - including
that associated with North Pacific and North Atlantic decadal variability - is due to cloud-circulation
coupling.
Description
Boehm_and_Thompson_CloudLocking_2021_Data.zip contains 12 NetCDF files. Each data file contains output data from simulations run on the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model. Each file has the output for a single variable and three dimensions: time, latitude and longitude.
Department of Atmospheric Science
Department of Atmospheric Science
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Citation
Associated Publications
Boehm, C. L., and D. W. J. Thompson, 2023: The Key Role of Cloud-Climate Coupling in Extratropical Sea Surface Temperature Variability. J. Climate, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0362.1, in press.