Studies of the sensitivity of the components of the earth's radiation balance to changes in cloud properties using a zonally averaged model

The accuracy of a simple radiative transfer scheme suitable for use in a general circulation model of the atmosphere is assessed by comparing the calculated radiative heat balance of the Earth/atmosphere system with the available observational data. Studies are then performed to determine the sensitivity of the radiative components to changes in the cloud data and cloud parameterisations which constitute the largest potential source of error in the model input data.