Integrating Top‐Down Energetic Constraints With Bottom‐Up Process‐Based Constraints for More Accurate Projections of Future Warming

Abstract The quantification of aerosol‐induced radiative forcing and cloud feedbacks remains a significant challenge in climate modeling, primarily due to the complex interplay of aerosol and clouds in a warming world. Traditional approaches often rely on either bottom‐up process‐based models, diffi...

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Main Author: D. Watson‐Parris
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-04-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL114269
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author D. Watson‐Parris
author_facet D. Watson‐Parris
author_sort D. Watson‐Parris
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The quantification of aerosol‐induced radiative forcing and cloud feedbacks remains a significant challenge in climate modeling, primarily due to the complex interplay of aerosol and clouds in a warming world. Traditional approaches often rely on either bottom‐up process‐based models, difficult to constrain against present‐day observations, or top‐down methods that lack the ability to capture the underlying processes accurately. Here, we present an approach that combines both bottom‐up process‐based constraints and top‐down energetic constraints of aerosol forcing and cloud feedbacks simultaneously to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of aerosol impacts on clouds and the climate. Applying the new method to the Community Atmosphere Model v6, we infer narrower parameter ranges for key process parameters, a reduced effective radiative forcing of −1.08 [−1.29–−0.77] Wm−2, and hence 66% more precise future projections.
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series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-0ed40e8a4cb840adbb484ac8c2ee2b9c2025-08-20T03:44:25ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-04-01528n/an/a10.1029/2024GL114269Integrating Top‐Down Energetic Constraints With Bottom‐Up Process‐Based Constraints for More Accurate Projections of Future WarmingD. Watson‐Parris0Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute University of California San Diego La Jolla CA USAAbstract The quantification of aerosol‐induced radiative forcing and cloud feedbacks remains a significant challenge in climate modeling, primarily due to the complex interplay of aerosol and clouds in a warming world. Traditional approaches often rely on either bottom‐up process‐based models, difficult to constrain against present‐day observations, or top‐down methods that lack the ability to capture the underlying processes accurately. Here, we present an approach that combines both bottom‐up process‐based constraints and top‐down energetic constraints of aerosol forcing and cloud feedbacks simultaneously to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of aerosol impacts on clouds and the climate. Applying the new method to the Community Atmosphere Model v6, we infer narrower parameter ranges for key process parameters, a reduced effective radiative forcing of −1.08 [−1.29–−0.77] Wm−2, and hence 66% more precise future projections.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL114269
spellingShingle D. Watson‐Parris
Integrating Top‐Down Energetic Constraints With Bottom‐Up Process‐Based Constraints for More Accurate Projections of Future Warming
Geophysical Research Letters
title Integrating Top‐Down Energetic Constraints With Bottom‐Up Process‐Based Constraints for More Accurate Projections of Future Warming
title_full Integrating Top‐Down Energetic Constraints With Bottom‐Up Process‐Based Constraints for More Accurate Projections of Future Warming
title_fullStr Integrating Top‐Down Energetic Constraints With Bottom‐Up Process‐Based Constraints for More Accurate Projections of Future Warming
title_full_unstemmed Integrating Top‐Down Energetic Constraints With Bottom‐Up Process‐Based Constraints for More Accurate Projections of Future Warming
title_short Integrating Top‐Down Energetic Constraints With Bottom‐Up Process‐Based Constraints for More Accurate Projections of Future Warming
title_sort integrating top down energetic constraints with bottom up process based constraints for more accurate projections of future warming
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL114269
work_keys_str_mv AT dwatsonparris integratingtopdownenergeticconstraintswithbottomupprocessbasedconstraintsformoreaccurateprojectionsoffuturewarming