A Study on the Sensitivity of Air Temperature to Cloudiness

Many past studies have held that the albedo effect of cloud cover is greater than the greenhouse effect, i. e., an increase in cloudiness would lead to a decrease in surface temperature. The opposite opinion was, however, held by other researchers. Some studies suggest that these two effects cancel each other out, with the net radiation at the top of atmosphere insensitive to changes in the cloud cover extent. Some of the discrepancies in the results could be due to the use of different radiative parameters for satellite measurements.Therefore, the problem remains to be solved thoroughly unless the planetary albedo (the combination of the albedos of cloud cover and the cloud-free region) and planetary infrared emission are precisely measured via weather satellites for verification. The radiative effect of clouds has been studied by means of the radiation balance equation for the earth-atmosphere system in the past (schneider, 1972).