Using Satellite Observations for Attribution of Radiation Changes – GWC Mag

Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors.

Source: Geophysical Research Letters

Raghuraman et al. [2023] use continuous global infrared satellite experiments to analyze measurements of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) from 2003 to 2021 emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere, and clouds. The study focuses on the effect of greenhouse gases on the radiation and compares the measurements with line-by-line radiative simulations of radiation transfers based on the meteorological conditions of the same period.

In these satellite measurements the authors show that increases in concentration of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O lead to a decrease in OLR, in agreement with the expected response to greenhouse gases, associated with a warming on the Earth’s surface and a cooling in the stratosphere. They also calculate the magnitude of the greenhouse gases forcing and conclude that it is in agreement with the estimates discussed in the latest IPCC report.

Citation: Raghuraman, S. P., Paynter, D., Ramaswamy, V., Menzel, R., & Huang, X. (2023). Greenhouse gas forcing and climate feedback signatures identified in hyperspectral infrared satellite observations. Geophysical Research Letters, 50, e2023GL103947. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL103947

—Suzana Camargo, Editor, Geophysical Research Letters

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