FIRE Arctic Clouds Experiment

Abstract

An overview is given of the First ISCCP Regional Experiment Arctic Clouds Experiment that was conducted during April-July 1998. The principal goal of the field experiment was to gather the data needed to examine the impact of arctic clouds on the radiation exchange between the surface, atmosphere, and space, and to study how the surface influences the evolution of boundary layer clouds. The observations will be used to evaluate and improve climate model parameterizations of cloud and radiation processes, satellite remote sensing of cloud and surface characteristics, and understanding of cloud-radiation feedbacks in the Arctic. The experiment utilized four research aircraft that flew over surface-based observational sites in the Arctic Ocean and at Barrow, Alaska. This paper describes the programmatic and scientific objectives of the project, the experimental design (including research platforms and instrumentation), the conditions that were encountered during the field experiment, and some highlights of preliminary observations, modeling, and satellite remote sensing studies.

Confronting Models with Data: The GEWEX Cloud Systems Study

“…These include an unusual clear-sky radiative-transfer regime characterized by cold temperatures and low humidities, arranged in complex vertical structures including strong inversions; unusual cloud types such as diamond dust, persistent mixed phase clouds, thin multiple cloud layers, and convection from leads in sea ice; and the highly reflective and heterogeneous snow/ ice surface. WG5 is presently using data from the First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) Arctic Clouds Experiment (Curry et al 2000) and the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA; Uttal et al 2000).…”

Development and Testing of Polar Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. Part I: Greenland Ice Sheet Meteorology*

“…We select test periods from the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) program during 1997 -1998 when detailed measurements were available from the drifting Ice Station SHEBA [Perovich et al, 1999;Uttal et al, 2002]. Cloud observations were especially enhanced for the First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) Arctic Clouds Experiment during April -July 1998 [Curry et al, 2000]. The SHEBA period has previously been used for model evaluation via the Arctic Regional Climate Model Intercomparison Project (ARCMIP) developed by Curry and Lynch [2002] to improve climate modeling of the Arctic [Tjernström et al, 2005].…”

Arctic Mixed-Phase Clouds Simulated by a Cloud-Resolving Model: Comparison with ARM Observations and Sensitivity to Microphysics Parameterizations

“…However, the role of clouds is even less well understood in the Arctic than in other geographic regions, due to sparse observations. The Arctic field programs such as the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA; Uttal et al 2002) and the First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE; where ISCCP is the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Program) Arctic Cloud Experiment (ACE; Curry et al 2000) revealed that mixed-phase stratiform (MPS) clouds appear to dominate the lowcloud population within the Arctic (Intrieri et al 2002). Moreover, it is found that the Arctic mixed-phase clouds are distinct from their lower latitude cousins (e.g.…”

“…Moreover, it is found that the Arctic mixed-phase clouds are distinct from their lower latitude cousins (e.g. Curry et al 1996Curry et al , 2000. A unique feature of these clouds is that they are persistent, liquid-topped clouds that precipitate ice (Hobbs and Rangno 1998;Intrieri et al 2002).…”