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Science 2 September 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5740, p. 1453
DOI: 10.1126/science.309.5740.1453b
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Some reconstructions of recent warming in the troposphere based on satellite data have indicated that the troposphere has warmed since 1979 (when the data were initially collected) at a rate considerably less than that, which should be expected from surface temperature measurements. Three studies (all published online 11 August 2005) reassess these data and reconstructions in favor of the surface temperature trends. Mears and Wentz (p. 1548) identify an error in the diurnal correction that has been applied to the satellite data, and derive a physically consistent one of the opposite sign, whose application brings into agreement a newer reconstruction of tropospheric warming, model calculations, and surface temperature measurements. Sherwood et al. (p. 1556) show that a spurious temporal trend was introduced into tropospheric temperature profiles recorded by radiosondes through changes in instrumentation made over time that involved solar heating of the instrument above ambient temperature. Correction for this bias brings many of the radiosonde data into better agreement with models and the surface temperature record, particularly in the tropics, where the disagreement between surface and expected tropospheric temperatures was most pronounced. Santer et al. (p. 1551) examined patterns of the amplification of surface temperature trends in the tropical troposphere using 19 different models. They show that the reconstructions used to argue that the troposphere was not warming are inconsistent with our understanding of the physical processes that control the vertical temperature structure of the atmosphere (the lapse rate).




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