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Jentsch 1991
Jentsch, V. (1991). An energy balance climate model with hydrological cycle: 1. Model description and sensitivity to internal parameters. Journal of Geophysical Research 96: doi: 10.1029/91JD01478. issn: 0148-0227.

A thermodynamical model designed to illustrate the effect of a hydrological cycle on climate sensitivity is presented. The model contains three climatic variables: two temperatures referring to an idealized atmosphere and ocean, respectively, and atmospheric humidity. The independent variables are time and latitude. Atmosphere and ocean are coupled by radiation and convection at their interface. Some structure of the atmospheric circulations is retained by differentiating between the dynamics of a low latitude zone (0¿-ϕH) and that of a high latitude zone (ϕH-90¿), where ϕH≈30¿ is the intersection of meridional temperature gradient and critical gradient for baroclinic instability. The atmospheric transport is split into an advective and a diffusive part, while the oceanic transport is approximately by pure diffusion. The coefficients associated with horizontal and vertical motion are modelled in terms of temperature gradients. The predicted water vapor gives rise to precipitation and clouds and influences (via cloud cover and greenhouse effect) the radiation balance of the system. The model is integrated for annual mean conditions until an asymptotic equilibrium is reached. The free (internal) parameters of the system are determined by optimization methods so that simulated temperature, heat flux and hydrological cycle are in close agreement with observations. The sensitivity of the model is governed by radiation parameters. Of these, the cloud albedo is the most sensitive quantity. By contrast, the model is relatively little affected by parameters associated with horizontal and vertical transport of heat. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1991

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Abstract

Keywords
Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Climatology
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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