A Systematic Study of Longwave Radiative Heating and Cooling within Valleys and Basins Using a Three-Dimensional Radiative Transfer Model

Abstract The Monte Carlo code for the physically correct tracing of photons in cloudy atmospheres (MYSTIC) three-dimensional radiative transfer model was used in a parametric study to determine the strength of longwave radiative heating and cooling in atmospheres enclosed in idealized valleys and basins. The parameters investigated included valley or basin shape, width, and near-surface temperature contrasts. These parameters were varied for three different representative atmospheric temperature profiles for different times of day. As a result of counterradiation from surrounding terrain, nighttime longwave radiative cooling in topographic depressions was generally weaker than over flat terrain. In the center of basins or valleys with widths exceeding 2 km, cooling rates quickly approached those over flat terrain, whereas the cooling averaged over the entire depression volume was still greatly reduced. Valley or basin shape had less influence on cooling rates than did valley width. Strong temperature gradients near the surface associated with nighttime inversion and daytime superadiabatic layers over the slopes significantly increased longwave radiative cooling and heating rates. Local rates of longwave radiative heating ranged between −30 (i.e., cooling) and 90 K day−1. The effects of the near-surface temperature gradients extended tens of meters into the overlying atmospheres. In small basins, the strong influence of nocturnal near-surface temperature inversions could lead to cooling rates exceeding those over flat plains. To investigate the relative role of longwave radiative cooling on total nighttime cooling in a basin, simulations were conducted for Arizona’s Meteor Crater using observed atmospheric profiles and realistic topography. Longwave radiative cooling accounted for nearly 30% of the total nighttime cooling observed in the Meteor Crater during a calm October night.