Examining the Regional Co‐Variability of the Atmospheric Water and Energy Imbalances in Different Model Configurations—Linking Clouds and Circulation

Abstract Clouds are a key player in the global climate system, affecting the atmospheric water and energy budgets, and they are strongly coupled to the large‐scale atmospheric circulation. Here, we examine the co‐variability of the atmospheric energy and water budget imbalances in three different gl...

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Main Authors: Guy Dagan, Philip Stier, Beth Dingley, Andrew I. L. Williams
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2022-06-01
Series:Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002951
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author Guy Dagan
Philip Stier
Beth Dingley
Andrew I. L. Williams
author_facet Guy Dagan
Philip Stier
Beth Dingley
Andrew I. L. Williams
author_sort Guy Dagan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Clouds are a key player in the global climate system, affecting the atmospheric water and energy budgets, and they are strongly coupled to the large‐scale atmospheric circulation. Here, we examine the co‐variability of the atmospheric energy and water budget imbalances in three different global model configurations–radiative‐convective equilibrium, aqua‐planet, and global simulations with land. The gradual increase in the level of complexity of the model configuration enables an investigation of the effects of rotation, meridional temperature gradient, land‐sea contrast, and seasonal cycle on the co‐variability of the water and energy imbalances. We demonstrate how this co‐variability is linked to both the large‐scale tropical atmospheric circulation and to cloud properties. Hence, we propose a co‐variability‐based framework that connects cloud properties to the large‐scale tropical circulation and climate system and is directly linked to the top‐down constrains on the system—the water and energy budgets. In addition, we examine how the water and energy budget imbalances co‐variability depends on the temporal averaging scale, and explain its dependency on how stationary the circulation is in the different model configurations. Finally, we demonstrate the effect of an idealized global warming and convective aggregation on this co‐variability.
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spelling doaj-art-186174e81e0c4471a4b00aebd45b3a792025-08-20T03:53:17ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems1942-24662022-06-01146n/an/a10.1029/2021MS002951Examining the Regional Co‐Variability of the Atmospheric Water and Energy Imbalances in Different Model Configurations—Linking Clouds and CirculationGuy Dagan0Philip Stier1Beth Dingley2Andrew I. L. Williams3Fredy and Nadine Herrmann Institute of Earth Sciences Hebrew University Jerusalem IsraelDepartment of Physics, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics University of Oxford Oxford UKDepartment of Physics, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics University of Oxford Oxford UKDepartment of Physics, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics University of Oxford Oxford UKAbstract Clouds are a key player in the global climate system, affecting the atmospheric water and energy budgets, and they are strongly coupled to the large‐scale atmospheric circulation. Here, we examine the co‐variability of the atmospheric energy and water budget imbalances in three different global model configurations–radiative‐convective equilibrium, aqua‐planet, and global simulations with land. The gradual increase in the level of complexity of the model configuration enables an investigation of the effects of rotation, meridional temperature gradient, land‐sea contrast, and seasonal cycle on the co‐variability of the water and energy imbalances. We demonstrate how this co‐variability is linked to both the large‐scale tropical atmospheric circulation and to cloud properties. Hence, we propose a co‐variability‐based framework that connects cloud properties to the large‐scale tropical circulation and climate system and is directly linked to the top‐down constrains on the system—the water and energy budgets. In addition, we examine how the water and energy budget imbalances co‐variability depends on the temporal averaging scale, and explain its dependency on how stationary the circulation is in the different model configurations. Finally, we demonstrate the effect of an idealized global warming and convective aggregation on this co‐variability.https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002951cloudswater budgetenergy budgetcirculationtropicsclimate change
spellingShingle Guy Dagan
Philip Stier
Beth Dingley
Andrew I. L. Williams
Examining the Regional Co‐Variability of the Atmospheric Water and Energy Imbalances in Different Model Configurations—Linking Clouds and Circulation
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
clouds
water budget
energy budget
circulation
tropics
climate change
title Examining the Regional Co‐Variability of the Atmospheric Water and Energy Imbalances in Different Model Configurations—Linking Clouds and Circulation
title_full Examining the Regional Co‐Variability of the Atmospheric Water and Energy Imbalances in Different Model Configurations—Linking Clouds and Circulation
title_fullStr Examining the Regional Co‐Variability of the Atmospheric Water and Energy Imbalances in Different Model Configurations—Linking Clouds and Circulation
title_full_unstemmed Examining the Regional Co‐Variability of the Atmospheric Water and Energy Imbalances in Different Model Configurations—Linking Clouds and Circulation
title_short Examining the Regional Co‐Variability of the Atmospheric Water and Energy Imbalances in Different Model Configurations—Linking Clouds and Circulation
title_sort examining the regional co variability of the atmospheric water and energy imbalances in different model configurations linking clouds and circulation
topic clouds
water budget
energy budget
circulation
tropics
climate change
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2021MS002951
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AT philipstier examiningtheregionalcovariabilityoftheatmosphericwaterandenergyimbalancesindifferentmodelconfigurationslinkingcloudsandcirculation
AT bethdingley examiningtheregionalcovariabilityoftheatmosphericwaterandenergyimbalancesindifferentmodelconfigurationslinkingcloudsandcirculation
AT andrewilwilliams examiningtheregionalcovariabilityoftheatmosphericwaterandenergyimbalancesindifferentmodelconfigurationslinkingcloudsandcirculation