Direct Aerosol Radiative Forcing: Calculations and Measurements from the Tropospheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing Observational Experiment (TARFOX)

摘要

TARFOX measured a variety of aerosol radiative effects (including direct forcing) while simultaneously measuring the chemical, physical, and optical properties of the responsible aerosol particles. Here we use TARFOX-determined aerosol, gas, and surface properties to compute radiative forcing for a variety of aerosol episodes, with midvisible optical depths ranging from 0.07 to 0.6. We calculate forcing by several techniques with varying degrees of sophistication, in part to test the range of applicability of simplified techniques-which are often the only ones feasible in climate predictions by general circulation models (GCMs). We then compare computed forcing to that determined from aircraft measurements.