Radiative kernels at the top of the atmosphere are useful for decomposing
changes in atmospheric radiative fluxes due to feedbacks from atmosphere and
surface temperature, water vapor, and surface albedo. Here we describe and
validate radiative kernels calculated with the large-ensemble version of
CAM5, CESM1.1.2, at the top of the atmosphere and the surface. Estimates of
the radiative forcing from greenhouse gases and aerosols in RCP8.5 in the
CESM large-ensemble simulations are also diagnosed. As an application,
feedbacks are calculated for the CESM large ensemble. The kernels are freely
available at
https://doi.org/10.5065/D6F47MT6, and accompanying software can be
downloaded from
https://github.com/apendergrass/cam5-kernels.