Search

During the Arctic Clouds in Summer Experiment (ACSE) in summer 2014 a weeklong period of warm-air advection over melting sea ice, with the formation of a strong surface temperature inversion and dense fog, was observed. Based on an analysis of the surface energy budget, we formulated the hypothesis that, because of the airmass transformation, additional surface heating occurs during warm-air intrusions in a zone near the ice edge. To test this hypothesis, we explore all cases with surface inversions occurring during ACSE and then characterize the inversions in detail. We find that they always occur with advection from the south and are associated with subsidence. Analyzing only inversion cases over sea ice, we find two categories: one with increasing moisture in the inversion and one with constant or decreasing moisture with height. During surface inversions with increasing moisture with height, an extra 10–25 W m−2 of surface heating was observed, compared to cases without surface inversions; the surface turbulent heat flux was the largest single term. Cases with less moisture in the inversion were often cloud free and the extra solar radiation plus the turbulent surface heat flux caused by the inversion was roughly balanced by the loss of net longwave radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Springtime atmospheric preconditioning of Arctic sea ice for enhanced or buffered sea ice melt during the subsequent melt year has received considerable research focus. Studies have identified enhanced poleward atmospheric transport of moisture and heat during spring, leading to increased emission of longwave radiation to the surface. Simultaneously, these studies ruled out the role of shortwave radiation as an effective preconditioning mechanism because of relatively weak incident solar radiation, high surface albedo from sea ice and snow, and increased clouds during spring. These conclusions are derived primarily from atmospheric reanalysis, which may not always accurately represent the Arctic climate system. Here, top-of-atmosphere shortwave radiation observations from a state-of-the-art satellite sensor are compared with ERA-Interim reanalysis to examine similarities and differences in the springtime absorbed shortwave radiation (ASR) over the Arctic Ocean. Distinct biases in regional location and absolute magnitude of ASR anomalies are found between satellite-based measurements and reanalysis. Observations indicate separability between ASR anomalies in spring corresponding to anomalously low and high ice extents in September; the reanalysis fails to capture the full extent of this separability. The causes for the difference in ASR anomalies between observations and reanalysis are considered in terms of the variability in surface albedo and cloud presence. Additionally, biases in reanalysis cloud water during spring are presented and are considered for their impact on overestimating spring downwelling longwave anomalies. Taken together, shortwave radiation should not be overlooked as a contributing mechanism to springtime Arctic atmospheric preconditioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud and thermodynamic characteristics from three Arctic observation sites are investigated to understand the collocation between low-level clouds and temperature inversions. A regime where cloud top was 100-200 m above the inversion base [cloud inside inversion (CII)] was frequently observed at central Arctic Ocean sites, while observations from Barrow, Alaska, indicate that cloud tops were more frequently constrained to inversion base height [cloud capped by inversion (CCI)]. Cloud base and top heights were lower, and temperature inversions were also stronger and deeper, during CII cases. Both cloud regimes were often decoupled from the surface except for CCI over Barrow. In-cloud lapse rates differ and suggest increased cloud-mixing potential for CII cases. Specific humidity inversions were collocated with temperature inversions for more than 60%% of the CCI and more than 85%% of the CII regimes. Horizontal advection of heat and moisture is hypothesized as an important process controlling thermodynamic structure and efficiency of cloud-generated motions. The portion of CII clouds above the inversion contains cloud radar signatures consistent with cloud droplets. The authors test the longwave radiative impact of cloud liquid above the inversion through hypothetical liquid water distributions. Optically thin CII clouds alter the effective cloud emission temperature and can lead to an increase in surface flux on the order of 1.5 W m−2 relative to the same cloud but whose top does not extend above the inversion base. The top of atmosphere impact is even larger, increasing outgoing longwave radiation up to 10 W m−2. These results suggest a potentially significant longwave radiative forcing via simple liquid redistributions for a distinctly dominant cloud regime over sea ice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of regional climate models (RCMs) participated in the Polar-CORDEX model intercomparison by providing nudged/forced atmospheric simulations of observations from the Arctic Clouds during Summer Experiment (ACSE) in summer 2014. This 3-month July-to-October icebreaker-based field campaign operated within open water, 100% sea ice cover, and a mixture of both open water, sea ice and melt ponds from Tromsö, Norway, to Barrow, Alaska, and back. We use a suite of in-situ and remotely sensed observations of the near-surface layer, boundary layer and free troposphere to evaluate the performance of physical processes as resolved by the RCMs. We focus on the surface energy budget (SEB), the thermodynamic and stability structure and of the lower atmosphere, and how clouds are impacted by, and force, the SEB components. We also draw on results from the Arctic Regional Climate Model Intercomparison Project (ARCMIP) from over 10 years ago as a basis of context for model development over the past decade. The timing and location of the ACSE platform during early August coincided with direct observations of a significant, large-scale atmospheric advection event. Lower atmospheric temperatures and moisture spiked to anomalously large values, impacting the atmospheric stability, cloud formation and ultimately enhanced sea ice melt. The models are evaluated on their capacity in representing this important synoptic event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]