Introduction to the Lecture

Accurate knowledge of radiative perturbations is a prerequisite for predicting climate change, although there remain substantial uncertainties in the quantification and attribution of the radiation changes. Spectrally resolved atmospheric radiation sheds light to the drivers of climate change, as the different drivers are characterized by their different spectral fingerprints. For this reason, the spectral radiation measurements can provide a radiative Keeling curve that detects climate change and elucidates the cause of it. In this talk, I will discuss how we use the spectral measurements to ground-truth the climate trends in atmospheric greenhouse effect, which is measured by the Downwelling Longwave Radiation, and to separate the different forcing and feedback mechanisms that contribute to the total radiation change, which provides an observation benchmark for validating climate models.

Profile of the Speaker

Huang Yi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at McGill University, Canada. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Peking University and his Ph.D. from Princeton University. Prior to joining McGill University, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in "Climate and Global Change" at Harvard University. His research focuses on climate physics and atmospheric radiation. His research group investigates radiative transfer theory, such as explaining the logarithmic dependence and spatial distribution patterns of the greenhouse effect, and develops remote sensing techniques applied to satellite and ground-based instruments. He is one of the co-leads of the Canadian satellite mission: High-altitude Aerosols, Water Vapor, and Clouds (HAWC).