Estudio de las Propiedades Radiativas de las Nubes y su Influencia en el Balance de Masa de un Glaciar de la Región Tropical Interna

Abstract

The objective of this study is to determine the radiative properties of the clouds in the Antisana in Ecuador. It is based on measurements of the ORE weather station located at the glacier 15 moraine (4850 m), from January 2005 to December 2015. The parameterizations of theoretical radiation in clear sky were made according to the specific conditions of the glacier (large altitude and low latitude). The infrared emission indices of the clouds and the transmissivity of the solar radiation, which provide inherent cloud information, are defined and calculated. The radiative forcing indices of the incident flow clouds and the suface’s radiative forcing provide information on their general effect with the cloudiness index. We distinguish two seasons in the year, MA and JAS, with less days and more days of clear sky, respectively. In energetic terms (W / m ^ 2), short wave incident radiation in the MA season is 25% less than in JAS season and long wave radiation from the clouds is 10% higher than in JAS. The fusion is higher on a clear day, compared to a semi-covered or cloudy day, but the fusion percentage for the entire study period is higher on semi-covered days (80.57%), because the semi-covered days are more numerous during a year (162 days). The influence of the clouds on the mass balance has a good correlation (greater than 0.7) when there is a La Niña event and a low correlation (almost zero) when there is an El Niño event. Finally, the influence of the clouds on the flows is low with values of Pearson correlation coefficient (R), less than 0.4.