RADIATIVE FORCING DUE TO CLOUDS AND AEROSOL

K. Ya. Kondrat'ev and V. I. Binenko

Radiative forcing of stratiform clouds has been studied on the basis of complex measurements of spectral and integral hemispheric fluxes of shortwave radiation in a cloudy and clear-sky atmosphere. Calculations have been made of cloud radiative forcing as a function of latitude, optical depth, solar zenith angle, and also for absorbing and scattering aerosols over a city and over a rural area in the case when strong duststorms take place. A comparison between measured and calculated values of cloud radiative forcing has been made. It is shown that clouds play an important role in shortwave radiation absorption not only in the near infrared spectrum but also in the visible region. It is noted that this effect has to be included in the radiation block of atmospheric general circulation and climate models.