The Radiation and Heat Budget of the Mintz-Arakawa Model: January.

Comparison of the radiation and heat budgets of the RAND general circulation model for a January simulation with observational and theoretical values. In the model too much solar radiation is absorbed at the earth's surface due primarily to insufficient atmospheric absorption and reflection. In the tropical latitudes the long-wave flux divergences over the atmospheric column appear to be too large. In the mid-latitudes of both hemispheres these values are in better agreement, while at higher latitudes they again diverge from comparable values. Since the solar flux reaching the surface and the long-wave fluxes are dependent on cloudiness, moisture, and temperature, it is not evident that the fault lies necessarily in the radiative portions of the model. While the heat budget calculations seem reasonable compared to other investigations, our components are generally the largest. This is probably related to the fact that the model possesses a vigorous general circulation. 71 pp. Ref.