Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Cloud albedo is a measure of the albedo or reflectivity of a cloud. Clouds regulate the amount of solar radiation absorbed by a planet and its solar surface irradiance . Generally, increased cloud cover correlates to a higher albedo and a lower absorption of solar energy .
Albedo (/ æ l ˈ b iː d oʊ / al-BEE-doh; from Latin albedo ' whiteness ') is the fraction of sunlight that is diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects all incident radiation).
Details of how clouds interact with shortwave and longwave radiation at different atmospheric heights [17]. Clouds have two major effects on the Earth's energy budget: they reflect shortwave radiation from sunlight back to space due to their high albedo, but the water vapor contained inside them also absorbs and re-emits the longwave radiation sent out by the Earth's surface as it is heated by ...
Clouds are responsible for about half of Earth's albedo and are powerful expressions of internal variability of the climate system. [32] [33] They may also act as feedbacks to forcings, and could be forcings themselves if for example a result of cloud seeding activity. Contributions to ΔE C vary regionally and depending upon cloud type ...
On the one hand, white cloud tops promote cooling of Earth's surface by reflecting shortwave radiation (visible and near infrared) from the Sun, diminishing the amount of solar radiation that is absorbed at the surface, enhancing the Earth's albedo. Most of the sunlight that reaches the ground is absorbed, warming the surface, which emits ...
Cloud droplets normally form on aerosol particles that serve as CCN. Increasing the number density of CCN can lead to formation of more cloud droplets with a smaller size. The increase in number density increases the optical depth of the cloud, which results in an increase in the cloud albedo making clouds appear whiter. Satellite imagery often ...
The liquid water path also contributes to important cloud properties. As the value of the liquid water path increases, so does the albedo of the cloud. This increase in albedo is seen most quickly at the lower end of the liquid water path spectrum, that is, the smaller the amount of total water, the quicker the albedo increases.
Clouds have both cooling and warming effects. They have a cooling effect insofar as they reflect sunlight (as measured by cloud albedo), and a warming effect, insofar as they absorb longwave radiation. For low clouds, the reflection of solar radiation is the larger effect; so, these clouds cool the Earth.