"Tropical Anvil Clouds and Climate Change: The Fixed Anvil Temperature Hypothesis"
It has been proposed by Hartmann and Larson
(2002) that tropical anvil clouds should maintain approximately the
same temperature when the surface temperature changes as a result of
natural or human-induced climate change. The theory for this will be
reviewed. Observations from MODIS, MLS, AMSR and GPS will be used to
test the theory using observations by comparing the east and west
Pacific under current climate conditions. A small modification of the
theory is needed to account for upper tropospheric relative
humidity variations. Other aspects of tropical clouds revealed by the
data will be discussed.