HR: 0800h
AN: GC31B-0343    [Abstracts]
TI: Variation of Atmospheric Heating Rates Derived from SORCE Solar Spectra and the SRPM Model
AU: * Fontenla, J
EM: juan.fontenla@lasp.colorado.edu
AF: LASP-Univ of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Dr., Boulder, CO 80303, United States
AU: Pilewskie, P
EM: peter.Pilewskie@lasp.colorado.edu
AF: LASP-Univ of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Dr., Boulder, CO 80303, United States
AU: Harder, J
EM: jerald.Harder@lasp.colorado.edu
AF: LASP-Univ of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Dr., Boulder, CO 80303, United States
AU: Snow, M
AF: LASP-Univ of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Dr., Boulder, CO 80303, United States
AU: Richard, E
AF: LASP-Univ of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Dr., Boulder, CO 80303, United States
AU: Woods, T
AF: LASP-Univ of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Dr., Boulder, CO 80303, United States
AB: Measurements from the SOLSTICE and SIM instruments on board the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) cover the 200-2400 nm region and span a time frame from August 2003 to the present and are able to characterize the solar spectral irradiance variability during the descending phase of Solar Cycle 23. Because absorption and scattering processes in the Earth's atmosphere are highly spectrally dependent, the spectral distribution and variability of the Sun's radiative energy is an important boundary condition for quantifying Earth's radiation budget as well as the vertical deposition of solar radiation in the atmosphere. The SORCE observations allow for the very first time the derivation of spectral atmospheric heating rates from measured spectral variability. The variability in spectral irradiance exhibited in the plage- versus sunspot-dominated cases leads to significant differences in atmospheric heating compared to the Quiet Sun, particularly evident in the mid-visible ozone Chappuis continuum and in the near infrared water bands. When integrated over the visible and near-infrared spectral bands these differences are on the order of 0.1 K per day. The findings from the SORCE observations and results derived from Solar Radiation Physical Modeling (SRPM) project will be presented in this study.
DE: 1650 Solar variability (7537)
DE: 7536 Solar activity cycle (2162)
DE: 7537 Solar and stellar variability (1650)
DE: 7538 Solar irradiance
DE: 7549 Ultraviolet emissions
SC: Global Environmental Change [GC]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting