Analytic radiative‐advective equilibrium as a model for high‐latitude climate. Issue 1 (6th January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cronin, Timothy W.; Jansen, Malte F.
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 43:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 449
• Page End: 457
• Publication Date: 2016-01-06
• Subjects: atmospheric structure -- climate feedbacks -- idealized models -- polar amplification; Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1002/2015GL067172
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

Abstract: We propose radiative‐advective equilibrium as a basic‐state model for the high‐latitude atmosphere. Temperature profiles are determined by a competition between stabilization by atmospheric shortwave absorption and advective heat flux convergence, and destabilization by surface shortwave absorption. We derive analytic expressions for temperature profiles, assuming power law atmospheric heating profiles as a function of pressure and two‐stream windowed‐gray longwave radiative transfer. We discuss example profiles with and without an atmospheric window and show that the sensitivity of surface temperature to forcing depends on the nature of the forcing, with greatest sensitivity to radiative forcing by increased optical thickness and least sensitivity to increased atmospheric heat transport. These differences in sensitivity of surface temperature to forcing can be explained in terms of a forcing‐dependent lapse‐rate feedback. Key Points: An analytic model for high‐latitude temperature profiles is derived Sensitivity of temperature profiles depends on the nature of the forcing The model may be useful for study of paleoclimate and exoplanet atmospheres