Where does this paper discuss feedback of water vapor?

Question

http://enso.larc.nasa.gov/ceres/pub/conference/Minnis.SPIE.05.pdf

This paper was cited by an atmospheric physicist here as a source for showing water vapor/cloud data from the Aqua satellite suggests that increased water vapor leads to a negative feedback for radiative forcing. I can't find it in the paper, it seems to me to be a discussion of how multilayer clouds are retrieved from the sensors on Aqua. The closest I can find to this is the Spencer et al. paper from last summer, but Spencer used data from Terra, not Aqua, and the negative feedback trend found by Spencer et al. is mainly due to data from a few months towards the end of his time series.

So, does anyone know where Minnis et al in the paper above discuss feedbacks and forcings? Alternatively, where is a real source showing data from Aqua indicate a negative forcing due to increase in water vapor?

Answer 1

From what I understand Minnis used a lot,and I mean a lot of referrence material and sources. Through a date would have been resourceful. I did isolate that sensor degradation of the Aqua was corrected by Lyu and Barnes (2008). They developed a responsive (gain) correction.

Answer 2

Here's Minnis's publication list:

http://www-pm.larc.nasa.gov/pages/minnis...

I suspect it may be in this paper (I'm reading it now):

http://www-pm.larc.nasa.gov/arm/pub/jour...

Edit:

I think this may be the paper you want:

http://www-pm.larc.nasa.gov/arm/pub/jour...

Answer 3

The report is published in the December 2007 issue of the International Journal of Climatology of the Royal Meteorological Society [DOI: 10.1002/joc.1651]. The authors are Prof. David H. Douglass (Univ. of Rochester), Prof. John R. Christy (Univ. of Alabama), Benjamin D. Pearson (graduate student), and Prof. S. Fred Singer (Univ. of Virginia).

Co-author John Christy said:. Satellite observations suggest that GH models ignore negative feedbacks, produced by clouds and by water vapor, that diminish the warming effects of carbon dioxide.”

Edit: I agree with you on the study you link to, and will not post it.    The interview about the satellite data is generating a lot of buzz in the blogs.  I am sure later they will reveal the study.

The study is not flawed.  balloon data supports the christy's findings.  He corrected his finding and showed a slightly higher warming, but still cooler than what the models show.

Co-author John Christy said: “Satellite data and independent balloon data agree that atmospheric warming trends do not exceed those of the surface. Greenhouse models, on the other hand, demand that atmospheric trend values be 2-3 times greater. We have good reason, therefore, to believe that current climate models greatly overestimate the effects of greenhouse gases. Satellite observations suggest that GH models ignore negative feedbacks, produced by clouds and by water vapor, that diminish the warming effects of carbon dioxide.”

Do I know more than the scientists, no.  Does Christy?  Yes.