Evaluation of Sea Ice Radiative Forcing according to Surface Albedo and Skin Temperature over the Arctic from 1982–2015

Abstract

Rapid warming of the Arctic has resulted in widespread sea ice loss. Sea ice radiative forcing (SIRF) is the instantaneous perturbation of Earth’s radiation at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) caused by sea ice. Previous studies focused only on the role of albedo on SIRF. Skin temperature is also closely related to sea ice changes and is one of the main factors in Arctic amplification. In this study, we estimated SIRF considering both surface albedo and skin temperature using radiative kernels. The annual average net-SIRF, which consists of the sum of albedo-SIRF and temperature-SIRF, was calculated as −54.57 ± 3.84 W/m2 for the period 1982–2015. In the net-SIRF calculation, albedo-SIRF and temperature-SIRF made similar contributions. However, the albedo-SIRF changed over the study period by 0.12 ± 0.07 W/m2 per year, while the temperature-SIRF changed by 0.22 ± 0.07 W/m2 per year. The SIRFs for each factor had different patterns depending on the season and region. In summer, rapid changes in the albedo-SIRF occurred in the Kara and Barents regions. In winter, only a temperature-SIRF was observed, and there was little difference between regions compared to the variations in albedo-SIRF. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that the overall temperature-SIRF is changing more rapidly than the albedo-SIRF. This study indicates that skin temperatures may have a greater impact on the Arctic than albedo in terms of sea ice surface changes.

Variability of Surface Radiation Budget over Arctic during Two Recent Decades from Perspective of CERES and ERA5 Data

“…Therefore, studies on the climate factors that increase (or decrease) net radiation and the mechanisms that affect them should be conducted. To resolve these issues, an analysis should be conducted of the connection points affecting climate feedback, such as the role of evaporation, radiative forcing, and clouds in the variability of sea ice [23,24,31,58]. The energy balance of the Arctic region should be analyzed by linking the changes in radiative energy with changes in non-radiative flux components.…”

“…A variety of atmospheric and oceanic data were synthesized to examine the large-scale energy budget of the Arctic. Surface radiation was verified by in situ data and an inter-comparison was performed between different satellite-based radiation data in the Arctic [4,[16][17][18]. Spatiotemporal analyses of the Arctic surface radiation budget have been synthesized using various spatial data [9,19].…”

“…In the case of longwave, analyses of clouds and sea ice were carried out, among which many studies of longwave downwelling have been carried out [22,23,[32][33][34]. In the case of net radiation, long-term trend analysis [9,19], comprehensive research on energy budget [3], and the evaluation of products [4,17,18,35] were conducted.…”

The Arctic Amplification and Its Impact: A Synthesis through Satellite Observations

“…Local factors and feedback of the amplification [39,40] Increase in land surface temperatures with minimum trends in summer and maximum trends in autumn; atmospheric temperature inversions correlated with sea ice anomalies [6,24] Rise in Arctic sea surface temperatures [19,41] Surface air and sea surface temperatures correlated with sea ice cover [17,[42][43][44] Satellites show disappearance of multiyear ice and reduction in ice thickness and volume [45] Increase in area of melting ponds on ice [25,46] General decrease in extent of snow cover and water equivalent, but geographical variations are significant [47] Arctic cloud cover undergoes multidirectional changes [48] Regional changes in TOA radiation fluxes are insignificant-implies weak atmosphere-surface coupling [49][50][51] Decrease in Arctic ice surface albedo [52] Increase in sea ice radiative forcing [53] Increase in cloud radiative forcing…”