Global and Regional Variations in Top-of-Atmosphere Radiative Fluxes, Cloud and Aerosol Properties for 2000-2004

Recent studies have shown dramatic differences in global albedo anomalies during the 2000-2004 period. In this presentation, we use CERES and MODIS measurements from Terra and Aqua to examine variations in top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiative fluxes and MODIS cloud and aerosol properties at global, hemispheric and regional scales. Preliminary results from CERES and MODIS suggest that global TOA fluxes and cloud property changes are negligible during 2000-2004. Making use of recent improvements in CERES radiative flux and cloud algorithms, the reflected solar and emitted thermal radiative flux variability at regional scales (tropics, midlatitudes, polar) is examined as a function of cloud type for all-sky conditions and aerosol optical depth for clear-sky conditions. The radiative anomalies are compared with anomalies in cloud and atmospheric state variables such as cloud fraction, cloud-top temperature, surface temperature, surface-air temperature difference, precipitable water and wind speed. The purpose is to explore the linkage (if any) between radiative flux anomalies and atmospheric state (i.e., meteorology) as a function of cloud type.