An Introduction into the

Greenhouse Theory of Ferenc Miskolczi

Miklós Zágoni

11 February, 2009
 Content
I. The tool: HARTCODE
II. Applications of HARTCODE
III. Results of HARTCODE computations
IV. Consequences
V. Historical perspective
VI. Interpretation

2
 Greenhouse effect
• The greenhouse factor (G) is the difference between
the surface upward longwave radiation (SU) and the
outgoing longwave radiation (OLR)
(Raval and Ramanathan, 1989):
G = SU–OLR (SU=σTs4; OLR=σTe4).
• The g normalized greenhouse factor (or greenhouse
function) is g = G / SU .
• The f transfer function can be defined as
f = OLR / SU (f = 1 – g) .
• If we want to relate G (or g, or f ) to the amount of
the atmospheric IR absorbers,
• we have to use radiative transfer codes.
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Wikipedia: public line-by-line
radiative transfer codes

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 Part I. HARTCODE
Description and validation
• High Resolution Atmospheric Radiative Transfer LBL Code
(Miskolczi et al., 1989)
http://miskolczi.webs.com/hartcode_v01.pdf
• Verified against GENLN2, LinePak, LBLRTM and FASCODE:
Kratz-Mlynczak-Mertens-Brindley-Gordley-Torres-Miskolczi-
Turner: An inter-comparison of far-infrared line-by-line radiative
transfer models. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy &
Radiative Transfer No. 90, 2005.
• F. Miskolczi and R. Guzzi: Effect of nonuniform spectral dome
transmittance on the accuracy of infrared radiation measurements
using shielded pyrradiometers and pyrgeometers. Applied
Optics, Vol. 32. No. 18., 1993.
• Rizzi-Matricardi-Miskolczi: Simulation of uplooking and
downlooking high-resolution radiance spectra with two different
radiative transfer models. Applied Optics, Vol. 41. No. 6, 2002.5
6
A tropical
clear-sky
TOA flux
computed
by Hartcode

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Spectral
clear-sky
OLR

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 G = SU – OLR

( 131 Wm-2 )

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 Proof of HARTCODE’s ability
to reproduce Fourier interferometer measurements

Looking
upward
from the
ground

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Looking
downward
from an
airplane

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 Part II. Applications of HARTCODE

The original idea was not climatology:

• To prepare a large set of IR transmittance

function profiles on carefully selected model
atmospheres — >
• Evaluating of remote sensing data by simple
and fast interpolation methods, avoiding the
complicated subsequent solutions of the IR
transfer equation — >
• Producing the necessary atmospheric
database for numerical weather prediction.
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Global scale simulations

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Miskolczi, Quarterly Journal of the Hungarian Met
Service (QJHMS), 2001:

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Part III. Results of HARTCODE computations
on the selected 228 TIGR vertical profile

QJHMS,
OLR 2004

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 ST
(T=288K)
=62 Wm-2

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Source: Kiehl-Trenberth, BAMS 22
1997
IPCC 2007 Assessment Report Four, WG1

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UPDATED (Trenberth et al BAMS 2008)

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 TA=ST/SU
(w=2.62prcm)
=0.1586

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τA = –ln(TA)
(TA=0.1586 ,
w=2.62 prcm)
= 1.87

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The Earth’s global average IR clear sky
optical depth (ττA) :

— > τA= – ln (TA)

τA=1.87
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Atlantic Ocean, 37. latitude north

Source: NASA
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 Optical depth from the TIGR
according to τA = – ln(1-ED/SU) at the COVE site

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EU/SU=1/2

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ED=SU–ST
=AA

EU=SU/2

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Summing up: QJHMS 2004
SU = 2EU, ED = AA

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 Part IV. Consequences
(QJHMS 2007)

εG=1 —> SG=SU

NET ATMOSPHER (1) F + P + K + AA – ED – EU = 0

NET SURFACE (2) F0 + P0 + ED – F – P – K – SU = 0
(3) F0 + P0 = OLR 34
 (4) AA=ED .
Inference on
(1) F + P + K + AA – ED – EU = 0 and
(2) F0 + P0 – SU + ED – F – P – K = 0 :

• Eq (1) (atmosphere) becomes:

(5) EU = F + K + P (”1a”)
• Eq (2) (surface) turns to:
(6) SU – OLR = ED – EU (”2a”)

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 (6) SU – OLR = ED – EU

This equation describes the equality of a net upward

and a net downward flux density.
SU – OLR heats the atmosphere, ED– EU is the answer
of the atmosphere to this drive: it maintains the
energetic equilibrium at the surface.

(The presence of these two longwave flux densities in

the air is the consequence of the atmospheric IR
-
active gases, GHGs.)

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 The source of (SU – OLR) + (ED – EU)
is the incoming available F0 + P0 flux.

Therefore we can write:

(7) (SU – OLR) + (ED – EU) = F0 + P0 = OLR

Using (6), from (7) we get:

(8) SU = 3 OLR/2

—> G = SU – OLR = ED – EU = SU/3

g = G/SU=1/3 . 37
2006

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( OLR = SU – G )

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 First conclusion
• The g = G/SU normalized greenhouse
factor of the Earth is not coincidently,
but necessarily equals to 0.334 ;
• its critical (or equilibrium) value is 1/3 .
• This is a direct arithmetic consequence of
Miskolczi’s AA=ED equation.

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 Conditions of AA=ED :

• Thermal equilibrium at the lower boundary

(surface): tS = tA , and
• Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE) in
the atmosphere.
• But: the classic Eddington solution of the
radiation transfer equation results in a
temperature discontinuity at the ground.

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John Marshall: Climate
Dynamics. M.I.T., 43
2007.
Part V. Historical perspective

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 Eddington flux

Radiative equilibrium
Planck blackbody source function
Planparalel hemispheric S-M. eq.

discontinuity

Milne, Goody 48
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General solution (MF IDİJÁRÁS, 2007):

discontinuity
resolved:
0<TA=exp(-ττA)<1
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In Eq (8) we had SU = (3/2)OLR
Now we have

(9) SU = (3/2)OLR = OLR / f ,

where f = 2/(1 + τA + exp(-ττA)) .
The solution of Eq. (9) to τA is:
τA + exp(-ττA) – 2 = 0 ,

τA = 1.841 .
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Observation (2004, HARTCODE
computation on TIGR): τA=1.867 .
Theoretical derivation
(2007, Eqs 4-9): τA=1.841 .
• The difference is 1.5 %.
• I regard this deduction one of the most important
results in the history of theoretical physics.
• As far as I know, this is the only available global
average IR optical depth for the Earth’s
atmosphere in the greenhouse literature.

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 Second conclusion
• The equilibrium values g=1/3 and f=2/3
of the greenhouse and transfer functions
for the Earth greenhouse factor are fully
supported by the observations and firmly
established by the theory;
• By SU=OLR/f, they are strictly connected
to the τ global average IR optical depth
through the f =2/(1+ττ+ exp(-ττ)) relation.
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 Part VI. Interpretation
• The SU surface upward radiation and surface
temperature is connected unequivocally to
the available F0+P0 energy source.
• The value of the G=SU–OLR greenhouse
factor is locked to SU/3. Excess or deficit in G
violates energetic constraints.
• The Earth-atmosphere system maintains an
equilibrium greenhouse effect, with
g = G/SU = 1/3 normalized greenhouse factor.
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In SU=OLR/f , any relative deviation
from their equilibrium values…

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… must be compensated by the
system’s energetic constraints.

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 Interpretation (cont.):
• If the system energetically could increase its
surface temperature, it need not wait for our
anthropogenic CO2 emissions, since another
GHG, water vapor, is available in a practically
infinite reservoir, in the surface of the
oceans.
• Energetic constraints can compensate the
increasing CO2-amount in the air for example
by removing water vapor, or by modifying the
amount (62%) and/or the average height
(2 km) of the partial cloud cover.
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HARTCODE VR1 – Miskolczi – noaa06 60
 SU = 2 EU
• The normalized upward atmospheric
emittance, EU/SU can be expressed
as f – TA
• In the Earth’s atmosphere for
different vertical air columns, its
values are spreading around ½, with
a global average of 0.5 .
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62
 Someone told me in Hungary:
• „it is impossible that the atmospheric absorbed
would always be equal to the downward emitted”.
• „it is a nonsense to assume that the upward
atmospheric emitted is always just the half of the
surface upward emitted longwave”.
• Then I showed him the book he learnt climatology
30 years ago.
• I proved that these relations ‘were there’ in his
book.
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Rudolf Czelnai: Introduction to meteorology I., 1979., p90., fig45.

All-sky global average annual energy balance (in %)

SU=120, ST=10, AA=110, ED=106, EU=60, SU=2EU, F+K=56, OLR=70 (albedo 30)

Clear-sky
OLR=76, SU=114,
ST=19 (ST/SU=1/6),
EU=57, F+K=57,
OLR=ST+EU=19+57,
AA=SU-ST=114-19,
AA=ED=95, SU=2EU
SU–OLR=ED–EU=38
SU–OLR+ED–EU=76
OLR=(2/3)SU=76

All-sky OLR=235Wm-2 Clear-sky OLR=255Wm-2 (76/70)

(KT-97) (ERBE-2004) 64
Vertical extension: the intricate order of the fluxes
B – ST = ED , B – OLR = ED – EU
is valid not only at the surface, but at all vertical levels
ED EU B ST
TA τ

© Miskolczi, 2007.
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Clear-sky fluxes

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AA=ED , vertical layers

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NOAA 60 years global average τA=1.871 69
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 Summing up: in the Earth’s atmosphere, equations

• SU=(3/2)OLR ;
• SU= ED/A (AA= ED ) ;
• SU=2EU and
• SU=OLR/f (f=2/(1+ττA+exp(-ττA))
describe empirical facts, which have to be taken into account
in every valid radiative-convective model.
On their theoretical explanation (Kirchhoff law, virial theorem,
radiation pressure, entropy maximum, energy minimum,
most effective cooling, the role of clouds, compensation
mechanisms, equilibrium time scales, further planetary
applications etc.) there is widespread international
scientific debate.
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Warming is possible only by
F0 + P0

} Physically
almost
impossible.

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 Literature:

fmiskolczi@cox.net
miklos.zagoni@gmail.com

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