Landolt-Brnstein GROUP V
: Geophysics 
VOLUME 6 

Observed Global Climate 
Title Page, Preface, Authors, Table of Contents, List of Acronyms
 Title Page
 Preface 
 Contributors 
List of Acronyms
0 
Executive summary  (M. Hantel) 1 

1 
Quantifying global climate systems  (M. Hantel) 7 

1.1 
Introduction 7 

1.2 
The global climate system and its subsystems 8 

1.3 
Climate phenomena 10 

1.3.1 
Large-scale climate phenomena 11 

1.3.2 
Regional climate phenomena 12 

1.3.3 
Local climate phenomena 13 

1.4 
Climate mechanisms 14 

1.5 
Non-budget climate elements 16 

1.5.1 
Field climate elements 16 

1.5.2 
Complex climate elements 17 

1.6 
The concept of budget climatology 17

1.6.1 
The budget principle 18 

1.6.2 
General properties of the budget quantities 20

1.6.3 
Bulk and spectral state quantities 23

1.6.4 
Flux vector, .ux components and .ux divergence 23 

1.7 
Non-advective .uxes in the climate system 25 

1.7.1 
Radiation .ux 26 

1.7.2 
Soil heat .ux 29 

1.7.3 
Di.usive .uxes 29 

1.8 
Advective .uxes in the climate system 29 

1.8.1 
The scale problem 30 

1.8.2 
Gridscale and sub-gridscale advective .uxes 30 

1.8.3 
Turbulent .uxes 31 

1.8.4 
The .ux quantity precipitation 33

1.9 
Conversion quantities in the climate system 33

1.9.1 
Energy conversion quantities 34

1.9.2 
Water conversion quantities 34

1.9.3
 Chemical conversion quantities 34

1.10 
Continuity of the total .ux vector 34 

1.11 
Climate surfaces and climate layers 35 

1.11.1 
The air-sea interface 35 

1.11.2 
The canopy layer 36 

1.12 
Categorization of global budgets 37 

1.13 
Aspects of the global climatic water budget 39 

1.13.1 
A global box budget 39




1.13.2 The zonal mean water budget 
1.14 Aspects of the global climatic energy budget 
1.14.1 Zero-dimensional energy budgets 
1.14.2 One-dimensional energy budgets 
1.15 Final remarks 
1.16 References for 1 
2 The processing of observational data and its implication for climate analysis  

2.1 Introduction 
2.2 Stochastic aspects 
2.2.1 The stochastic elements 
2.2.2 Sampling and ergodicity 
2.2.3 Dimension reduction 
2.3 Data modeling 
2.3.1 Processing in situ measurements 
2.3.2 Processing remote sensing measurements 
2.3.3 Practical implementations 
2.4 Stationarity and predictability 
2.5 References for 1.2 3 Data management (F. Rubel, M. Kottek) 
3.1 Introduction 
3.2 The digital data archive 
3.2.1 Description of the data sets 
3.2.2 Description of the digital data .les 
3.2.3 Description of the pictures and movies 
3.2.4 Description of the global climate maps 1991-1995

3.3 Selected features of the global climate depicted in the animate data 
3.3.1 The South Paci.c convergence zone (SPCZ) 
3.3.2 The northern hemisphere sea ice concentration 
3.3.3 The Gulf Stream as depicted by the latent heat .ux
3.4 Referencesfor 1.3 4 Radiation budget of the climate system  (E. Raschke, A. Ohmura) 
4.1 Introduction and conventions 
4.2 Radiative transfer in the atmosphere 
4.2.1 A few basic facts of radiative transfer in continua 
4.2.2 Radiatively active components in the climate system 
4.2.3 Absorption and scattering in the clear and turbid atmosphere 
4.2.4 Major radiative transfer codes and data libraries ready for use 
4.2.5 The atmospheric greenhouse effect 
4.3 An overview on the radiation budget of the climate system 
4.3. Annual budget 
4.3. Solar radiation 
4.3. Radiation budget at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) 
4.3. Radiation Budget at Ground 
4.3. Vertical radiative flux divergence in the atmosphere 
4.3. The Global Annual Budget and a Preliminary Error Discussion 
39 
42 
42
43
45 
45 

(A. Hense) 50 
50 
50 
50 
51 
52 
54 
55 
55 
56 
59
60 
61 
61 
63 
63 
70 
72 
72 
72 
72 
74 
75 
76 
79 
80 
81 
81 
82
82 
84 
84 
85 
85 
85 
88 
97 
107 
112  

4.4 Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) and Ultraviolet Radiation (UV) at Ground 116  

4.4.1 PAR 116  

4.4.2 Ultraviolet radiation at ground 118  
4.4.3 Radiation in snow and upper water body layers 119  
4.5 A few final remarks 122  
4.6 References for 4 124  Appendix: Seasonal maps of all radiation quantities 129  1 Radiation budget components at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) 130  2 Radiation budget components at ground 146  3 Radiant flux divergence in the atmosphere 168  4 Photosynthetically Active Radiation and Ultraviolet-B 180  5 Water vapor in the atmosphere  (E. Raschke, C. Stubenrauch) 186  
5.1 Importance of water vapor in climate 185  5.2 Abundance in the atmosphere 187  5.3 Determination of atmospheric water vapor 189  5.3.1 Overview 189  5.3.2 Radiosondes 191  5.3.3 Satellite sensors 192  5.3.4 Combination of different sources: The NASA Water Vapor Project 194  5.3.5 Other projects 194  5.4 Global distributions 195  5.4.1 Examples from different projects 195  5.4.2 Global average of atmospheric water vapor 197  5.4.3 Regional and seasonal variations 198  5.5 Final remarks 204  5.6 References for 5 205  6 Clouds (C. Stubenrauch) 207  6.1 Introduction 207  6.1.1 Importance of clouds in climate 207  6.1.2 Cloud formation and cloud types 208  6.1.2 Circulation of the atmosphere and resulting cloud structures 209  6.1.3 Large-scale ocean-atmosphere interactions 210  6.2 Space observations of cloud physical properties 211  6.2.1 Long-term climatologies 212  6.2.2 Cloud properties from other space-borne instruments 218  6.3 Cloud physical properties 220  6.3.1 Average cloud properties 220  6.3.2 Regional distributions and seasonal variations 222  6.3.3 Diurnal variations 232  6.4 Final remarks 232  6.5 References for 6 232  7 Global chemistry (L. Emmons, C. Granier, G. Brasseur) 234  7.1 Importance of chemistry for climate 234 7.2 Measurements of chemical species 235 7.2.1 Satellites 236  7.2.2 Ground-based remote sensing 238 7.2.3 In situ measurements 238 7.2.4 Ozonesondes 239  7.3 Data and example plots 239 
7.3.1 
Ozone column 239  

7.3.2 
Greenhouse gases 241  

7.3.3 
Tropospheric ozone and precursors 242 

7.4 
Global budgets of chemical compounds 243 

7.5 
References for 7 245  

8 
Global aerosols  (R. Jaenicke) 247 

8.1 
Climatic relevance of atmospheric aerosols 247 

8.2 
Recommended observations for atmospheric aerosols 248 

8.3 
Source strength 248  

8.4 
Optical depth 250  

8.5 
References 255  

9 
Circulation of the global atmosphere  (L. Haimberger) 256 

9.1 
Introduction 	256  

9.2 
The basic budget equations	258

9.2.1 
General characteristics of budget equations 	258 

9.2.2 
Averaging of the budget equations 	259 

9.2.3 
Mass budget equations 	261 

9.2.4 
Water vapour budget equations 	261 

9.2.5 
Dry enthalpy budget equation	263 

9.2.6 
Moist enthalpy budget equation 	264 

9.2.7 
Potential energy budget equation 	264 

9.2.8 
Kinetic energy budget equation 	265 

9.2.9 
Total energy budget equation	265 

9.2.10 
Lorenzs energy cycle 	266 

9.3 
Short description of ERA-40 data	268 

9.4 
Numerical and quality issues for budget calculations	271

9.5 
The mass budget of the atmosphere 	271 

9.6 
The water budget	273  

9.7 
The dry and moist enthalpy budget	276 

9.8 
The kinetic energy budget	280 

9.9 
The total energy budget	282 

9.10 	
Lorenzs energy cycle 286 

9.11 	
Outlook 288  

9.12 	
References for 9 289  

A Appendix of Chapter 9 292 

A.1  
Treatment of the ERA-40 data	292 

A.1.1  
Horizontal interpolation 	292 

A.1.2  
Vertical interpolation 	293 

A.2  
The angular momentum budget	295 

A.2.1  
Angular momentum budget equations	295 

A.2.2  
Angular momentum .uxes from ERA-40 data	296 

A.3  
Figures of mass budget	301 

A.4  
Figures of water budget	307 

A.5  
Figures of heat budget	317 

A.6  
Figures of kinetic energy budget	333 

A.7 
Figures of the total energy budget 	338

A.7.1 
The total energy .ux stream function 	341 




10 
10.1 
10.2 
10.3 
10.4 
10.4.1 
10.4.2 
10.4.3 
10.5 
10.6 
10.7 
10.8 
11 

11.1 
11.1.1 
11.1.2 
11.1.3 
11.2 
11.2.1 
11.2.2 
11.3 
11.4 
11.4.1 
11.4.2 
11.4.3 
11.5 
11.6 
11.6.1 
11.6.2 
11.6.3 
11.7 
11.8 
11.9 
12 

A.8  
Figures of Lorenz energy cycle 345 

Energy budget at the earths surface (A. Ohmura, E. Raschke) 350 

Introduction 350  

Earth's surface and active layer 350 

Processes of energy transformation at the surface 351 

Non-radiative energy fluxes 352 

Turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent heat 353 

Subsurface heat flux 363 

Latent heat of fusion 364 

The mean state of the radiation and energy budget of the earth 366 

The ETH-Zrich global databases for energy balance 368 

Conclusion 375  

References for 10 375  

Appendix for 10
: Radiation and heat fluxes measured at the earths surface 380 

Global Precipitation  (B. Rudolf, F. Rubel) 381 

Introduction 381  

Review of global mean precipitation climatologies 381  

Precipitation as a component of the global water and energy cycle 382  

Definition of measured quantities and commonly used terms and units 384  

In situ observation techniques for precipitation 385  

The systematic gauge measurement error 387  

The calculation of areal mean precipitation and sampling error 389  

Ground-based remote sensing: Precipitation radar networks 391  

Space-borne remote sensing: Satellite observations of precipitation 393  

Determination of precipitation from observed infrared radiation data 393  

Determination of precipitation from observed microwave radiation data 394  

Comparison of various satellite-based precipitation estimates 395  

Combination of satellite and in situ measured precipitation data 396  

Spatial structure of global precipitation 397  

Variability of annual and seasonal precipitation on global scale 397  

Zonal profiles 399  

Anomalies of global precipitation (ENSO) 400  

Global climate change and precipitation 402  

Final remarks 403  

References for 11 404  

Appendix for 11 408  

Annex 11-A1: Spatio-temporal distribution of global precipitation 409  

Annex 11-A2: Complementary global precipitation products for the period 1991-1995 423  

Annex 11-A3: ENSO precipitation and anomalies 429  

Terrestrial carbon and water fluxes . (Gerten, U. Haberlandt, W. Cramer, M. Erhard) 434 

Introduction  hydrosphere and biosphere in the global climate system 434 

The global water cycle 434 

The global carbon cycle 436 

Constraints and drivers for hydrologic and biospheric processes 438 

Constraints for the structure of land vegetation, and drivers for fluxes between land vegetation 438  

and the atmosphere 
Models as integrative tools for the assessment of global fluxes 439

Fluxes of water between land and atmosphere 440 



12.3.1 
Flux components  observations versus modelling 440 

12.3.2 
Vertical fluxes of water in the soil-vegetation-atmosphere system 441 

12.3.3 
Lateral fluxes of water from land to the oceans 443 

12.4 
Fluxes of carbon between the biosphere and the atmosphere 448 

12.4.1 
Quantifying fluxes between land biosphere and atmosphere 448 

12.4.2 
Observed trends and budgets 451 

12.5 
References and data sources for 12 451 

13 
Flow and balance of the polar ice sheets (P. Huybrechts, H. Miller) 454

13.1 
Introduction 454  

13.2 
Physiogeographic setting and characteristics 454

13.2.1 
Configuration 454  

13.2.2 
Geometric datasets 455 

13.2.3 
Sizes and volumes 457 

13.2.4 
Surface climate 458  

13.2.5 
Flow of ice sheets 460  

13.3 
Balance flow 461  

13.4
 Mass budget 463  

13.5
 Outlook 464  

13.6 
References 465  

14 
Global ocean and sea ice (K.-P. Koltermann, J. Meincke, V. Gouretski) 467 

14.0 
Introduction 467  

14.1 
Definitions and data sets 468 

14.1.1 
The WOCE Global Hydrographic Climatology WGHC 470 

14.1.2 
Estimates from the global assimilation project ECCO 473 

14.1.3 
Sea ice 475  

14.1.4 
The bathymetry data set ETOPO5 475 

14.2 
Large scale climate forcing 477 

14.3
 Global averages 477  

14.3.1 
Main Mean Properties 478 

14.3.2 
Vertical structure of the ocean 478 

14.4 
Global horizontal distributions 480 

14.4.1 
Sea surface topography 480 

14.4.2 
Temperature 485  

14.4.3
 Salinity 486  

14.4.4
 Potential density 487  

14.4.5 
Oxygen content 488  

14.4.6 
Silicate 489  

14.5 
The flow field 490  

14.5.1 
The baroclinic velocity field 491 

14.5.2 
The Ekman velocity field 494 

14.5.3 
The barotropic velocity field 496 

14.6 
Sea ice distribution 498 

14.6.1 
The ERA-40 climatology 498 

14.6.2 
The ISLSCP 2 climatology 500 

14.7 
Temporal changes of the ocean constituents 501

14.7.1 
Local variability at the ocean surface 504 

14.8 
Forcing fields at the ocean surface 505 

14.8.1 
Wind stress forcing 506 

14.8.2 
Freshwater flux 507  

14.8.3 
Heat flux 509  

14.9 
Acknowledgements and References 512 

14.9.1 
Acknowledgements 512 

14.9.2 
References for 14 512  

15 
Climate variations (C.-D. Schnwiese) 515 

15.1 
Introduction 515  

15.2 
Information sources 517 

15.3 
Climate variations within the pre-instrumental interval 518 

15.4 
Temperature variations within the instrumental period 523 

15.5 
Precipitation variations within the instrumental period 527

15.6 
Climate variations in terms of circulation indices 531 

15.7 
Possible causes of climate variations 532 

15.6 
Glossary 534  

15.7 
References for 15 536  

15.8 
Internet links to institutions providing information on climate variations 539

16 
Climate predictability  (M. Ehrendorfer) 540

16.1 
The predictability issue 540 

16.2
 Weather predictability 544

16.3 
Climate dynamics and models 547 

16.4 
Predictability of climate 550

16.5 
Concluding remarks 555 

16.6 
Appendix: Mathematical description of singular vectors 555 

16.7 
References for 16 556  

17 
Global climate maps 1991 - 1995 (M. Kottek, M. Hantel) 564 

17.1 
Introduction 564  

17.2 
Maps of selected climate elements 566 

17.2.1 
Surface state quantities 566 

17.2.2 
Integrated state quantities and horizontal mass fluxes 568

17.2.3 
Top of atmosphere flux densities 569 

17.2.4 
Surface flux densities 570 

17.2.5 
Integrated energy flux quantities 572

17.2.6 
Secondary climate elements 572 

17.3 
References for 17 708  



12.1 
12.1.1 
12.1.2 
12.2 
12.2.1 
12.2.2 
12.3 
