A SevenCruise Sample of Clouds, Radiation, and Surface Forcing in the Equatorial Eastern Pacific

1
A Seven-Cruise Sample of Clouds, Radiation, and
Surface Forcing in the Equatorial Eastern Pacific
J. E. Hare, C. W. Fairall, T. Uttal, D. Hazen
Environmental Technology LaboratoryMeghan Cronin
and Nick Bond - NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental
LaboratoryDana Veron - Rutgers University
Measurements
Cloud Radiative Forcing and Net Heat Fluxes
Cloud Forcing Mean Measured Radiative Flux
Mean Clear Sky Radiative Flux. Thus, cloud
forcing is the net effect the cloud have on the
surface radiative fluxes. For IR flux it is
positive (clouds warm the surface) while for
solar flux it is negative (clouds cool the
surface).
Data Sample Wind Components
Wind components from 7 cruises. The left panel
shows daily averages of the individual
observations the right panel shows the 7-cruise
average (bluespring and redfall). Note the
strong intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) at 8
to 10 N in the fall.
Average surface heat fluxes for the 7 cruises
(bluespring redfall). The left panel is for
the IR cloud forcing (upper) and solar cloud
forcing (lower). The right panel shows the net
surface heat flux (upper) and the cloud forcing
contribution to that flux (lower)