A generalized energy balance climate model with parameterized dynamics and diabatic heating
Shell, Karen M., and Richard C. J. Somerville, 2005: A generalized energy balance climate model with parameterized dynamics and diabatic heating, J. Clim., 18: 1753-1772.
Abstract
Energy balance models have proven useful in understanding mechanisms
and feedbacks in the climate system. An original global energy
balance model is presented here. The model is solved numerically for
equilibrium climate states defined by zonal average temperature as a
function of latitude for both a surface and an atmospheric layer. The
effects of radiative, latent, and sensible heating are parameterized.
The model includes a variable lapse rate and parameterizations of the
major dynamical mechanisms responsible for meridional heat transport:
the Hadley cell, midlatitude baroclinic eddies, and ocean circulation.
The model reproduces both the mean variation of temperature with
latitude and the global average heat budget within the uncertainty of
observations.
The utility of the model is demonstrated through examination of
various climate feedbacks. One important feedback is the effect of
the lapse rate on climate. When the planet warms as a result of an
increase in the solar constant, the lapse rate acts as a negative
feedback, effectively enhancing the longwave emission efficiency of
the atmosphere. The lapse rate is also responsible for an increase in
global average temperature when the meridional heat transport
effectiveness is increased. The water vapor feedback enhances
temperature changes, while the latent and sensible heating feedback
reduces surface temperature changes.
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