The curious nature of the hemispheric symmetry of the Earth’s water and energy balances
Article
Article Title | The curious nature of the hemispheric symmetry of the Earth’s water and energy balances |
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ERA Journal ID | 210339 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Stephens, Graeme L. (Author), Hakuba, Maria Z. (Author), Hawcroft, Matt (Author), Haywood, Jim M. (Author), Behrangi, Ali (Author), Kay, Jennifer E. (Author) and Webster, Peter J. (Author) |
Journal Title | Current Climate Change Reports |
Journal Citation | 2 (4), pp. 135-147 |
Number of Pages | 13 |
Year | 2016 |
Place of Publication | Germany |
ISSN | 2198-6061 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-016-0043-9 |
Web Address (URL) | https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs40641-016-0043-9.pdf |
Abstract | This paper presents new estimates of the hemispheric energy balance based on an assembly of radiative flux and ocean heat data. Further, it provides an overview of recent simulations with fully coupled climate models to investigate the role of its representation in causing tropical precipitation biases. The energy balance portrayed here features a small hemispheric imbalance with slightly more energy being absorbed by the Southern hemisphere. This yields a net transport of heat towards the NH composing of a northward cross-equatorial heat transport by the oceans and a southward heat flow in the atmosphere. The turbulent fluxes and hemispheric precipitation balance to about 3 Wm−2 with slightly larger total accumulation occurring in the NH. CloudSat data indicate more frequent precipitation in the SH implying more intense precipitation in the NH. Fully coupled climate model simulations show that reducing hemispheric energy balance biases does little to reduce existing biases in tropical precipitation. |
Keywords | hemispheric energy balance, surface heat budget, ocean heat storage, cross-equatorial heat transport, fully coupled climate model, tropical precipitation bias |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 379999. Other earth sciences not elsewhere classified |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States |
Colorado State University, United States | |
University of Exeter, United Kingdom | |
University of Colorado Boulder, United States | |
Georgia Institute of Technology, United States | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q51yy/the-curious-nature-of-the-hemispheric-symmetry-of-the-earth-s-water-and-energy-balances
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