Formation of Near-surface Atmospheric Inversion and Surface Inversion in Hothouse Climates

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Liu, Jiachen, Ding, Feng, Yang, Jun
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866908305336565760
author Liu, Jiachen
Ding, Feng
Yang, Jun
author_facet Liu, Jiachen
Ding, Feng
Yang, Jun
contents A hothouse climate may develop throughout Earth's history and its warming future and on potentially habitable exoplanets near the inner edge of the habitable zone. Previous studies suggested that near-surface atmospheric inversion (NAIV) with planetary boundary air temperature being higher than the air temperature adjacent to the surface, is a pronounced phenomenon in hothouse climates. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here we show that lower-tropospheric radiative heating is necessary but not independently sufficient in forming the NAIV. Instead, the dynamic heating induced by large-scale subsidence is essential. With the prescribed reasonable large-scale subsidence, NAIV appears in small-domain cloud-resolving simulations, which was not observed in previous studies. Surface evaporative cooling also contributes to the formation of the NAIV. Besides NAIV, we find that surface inversion (SIV) with the air adjacent to the surface being warmer than the underlying sea surface is also a distinct phenomenon in hothouse climates. SIV is caused by strong surface evaporative cooling and large atmospheric shortwave absorption. These two types of inversion strongly stabilize the atmosphere, weaken atmospheric circulation, dry the free troposphere, and suppress the hydrological cycle.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_05233
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Formation of Near-surface Atmospheric Inversion and Surface Inversion in Hothouse Climates
Liu, Jiachen
Ding, Feng
Yang, Jun
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
A hothouse climate may develop throughout Earth's history and its warming future and on potentially habitable exoplanets near the inner edge of the habitable zone. Previous studies suggested that near-surface atmospheric inversion (NAIV) with planetary boundary air temperature being higher than the air temperature adjacent to the surface, is a pronounced phenomenon in hothouse climates. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here we show that lower-tropospheric radiative heating is necessary but not independently sufficient in forming the NAIV. Instead, the dynamic heating induced by large-scale subsidence is essential. With the prescribed reasonable large-scale subsidence, NAIV appears in small-domain cloud-resolving simulations, which was not observed in previous studies. Surface evaporative cooling also contributes to the formation of the NAIV. Besides NAIV, we find that surface inversion (SIV) with the air adjacent to the surface being warmer than the underlying sea surface is also a distinct phenomenon in hothouse climates. SIV is caused by strong surface evaporative cooling and large atmospheric shortwave absorption. These two types of inversion strongly stabilize the atmosphere, weaken atmospheric circulation, dry the free troposphere, and suppress the hydrological cycle.
title Formation of Near-surface Atmospheric Inversion and Surface Inversion in Hothouse Climates
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.05233