CLOUD-RADIATIVE EFFECTS ON IMPLIED OCEANIC ENERGY TRANSPORTS AS SIMULATED BY ATMOSPHERIC GENERAL-CIRCULATION MODELS

This paper summarizes the ocean surface net energy flux simulated by f ifteen atmospheric general circulation models constrained by realistic ally-varying sea surface temperatures and sea ice as part of the Atmos pheric Model Intercomparison Project. In general, the simulated energy fluxes are within the very large observational uncertainties. However , the annual mean oceanic meridional heat transport that would be requ ired to balance the simulated surface fluxes is shown to be critically sensitive to the radiative effects of clouds, to the extent that even the sign of the Southern Hemisphere ocean heat transport can be affec ted by the errors in simulated cloud-radiation interactions. It is sug gested that improved treatment of cloud radiative effects should help in the development of coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation mod els.