Origins of Model–Data Discrepancies in Optimal Fingerprinting

Abstract Two approaches to distinguishing anthropogenic greenhouse gas and sulfate aerosol signals in the observed surface temperature record are compared. Both rely on a variant of general regression called “optimal fingerprinting.” One approach is equivalent to a stepwise regression procedure estimating, first, a greenhouse gas signal and, in a second step, the sulfate aerosol signal. This is different from multiple regression, under which both signals are estimated simultaneously and treated symmetrically. The stepwise regression approach is a more powerful means of detecting greenhouse gas influence in the presence of a small and possibly poorly simulated sulfate aerosol signal. However, when both signals are of comparable size, multiple regression provides estimates of the amplitude of the greenhouse and sulfate responses that are, in principle, independent of each other, making it generally simpler to interpret. It is shown that there is a simple linear transform relating the stepwise and multiple r...