The influence of anomalous atmospheric conditions at Ny-Ålesund on clouds and their radiative effect

Nomokonova, Tatiana; Ebell, Kerstin; Löhnert, Ulrich; Maturilli, Marion; Ritter, Christoph

doi:10.5194/acp-2019-985

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Shupe et al (2011) have analyzed the occurrence and macro-physical properties of Arctic clouds at six observatories, including Ny-Ålesund, and found, for example, that clouds are more persistent at the far western Arctic sites. More detailed analyses of cloud radar observations from Ny-Ålesund (Nomokonova et al, 2019b;Ebell et al, 2020;Nomokonova et al, 2019a;Gierens et al, 2020) partly confirmed results of previous studies, e.g. high a cloud occurrence at Ny-Ålesund in summer and autumn, but also revealed differences.…”

Section: Site Descriptionsupporting

confidence: 86%

The role of nanoparticles in Arctic cloud formation

Karlsson

Krejci

Koike

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. To constrain uncertainties in radiative forcings associated with aerosol--cloud interactions, improved understanding of Arctic cloud formation is required, yet long-term measurements of the relevant cloud and aerosol properties remain sparse. We present the first long-term study of cloud residuals, i.e. particles that were involved in cloud formation, and ambient aerosol particles in Arctic low-level clouds measured at Zeppelin Observatory, Svalbard. A detailed evaluation of the ground-based counter-flow virtual impactor inlet system is also presented. Cloud residuals as small as 15 nm are routinely observed especially during the dark period and are potentially linked to ice, supporting prior work suggesting that classical droplet activation is not the only relevant process in the formation of Arctic low-level clouds. The reported measurements and findings provide a new basis for improving our understanding of Arctic clouds and for developing robust parameterisations of mixed-phase clouds in Earth system models.

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Section: Site Descriptionsupporting

confidence: 86%

The role of nanoparticles in Arctic cloud formation

Karlsson

Krejci

Koike

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Microwave radiometer retrievals are available in Nomokonova, Ritter, and Ebell (2019) (for the 2017–2018 period), and in Ebell and Ritter (2022) (for the 2019–2021 period). The Cloudnet target classification product can be downloaded from https://cloudnet.fmi.fi/.…”

Section: Data Availability Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice Aggregation in Low‐Level Mixed‐Phase Clouds at a High Arctic Site: Enhanced by Dendritic Growth and Absent Close to the Melting Level

2022

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Low-level mixed-phase clouds (MPCs) are ubiquitous in the Arctic. They have been shown to occur widely and frequently (e.g., Mioche et al., 2015;Morrison et al., 2012) and to persist typically for several hours (de Boer et al., 2009;Shupe, 2011), with some recorded cases lasting up to several days (e.g., Zuidema et al., 2005). They are further known to introduce, on average, a strong positive surface radiative forcing (Shupe & Intrieri, 2004;Serreze & Barry, 2011;Matus & L'Ecuyer, 2017;Tan & Storelvmo, 2019). Arctic low-level MPCs display a characteristic structure with one or multiple shallow liquid layers close to cloud top, from which ice particles form and precipitate (Shupe et al., 2006). Their persistence is due to a complex interplay of several processes (Morrison et al., 2012), and they have been found to occur under a variety of conditions, including both stable and unstable

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Low-level mixed-phase clouds in a complex Arctic environment

et al. 2020

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Abstract. Low-level mixed-phase clouds (MPCs) are common in the Arctic. Both local and large-scale phenomena influence the properties and lifetime of MPCs. Arctic fjords are characterized by complex terrain and large variations in surface properties. Yet, not many studies have investigated the impact of local boundary layer dynamics and their relative importance on MPCs in the fjord environment. In this work, we used a combination of ground-based remote sensing instruments, surface meteorological observations, radiosoundings, and reanalysis data to study persistent low-level MPCs at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, for a 2.5-year period. Methods to identify the cloud regime, surface coupling, and regional and local wind patterns were developed. We found that persistent low-level MPCs were most common with westerly winds, and the westerly clouds had a higher mean liquid (42 g m−2) and ice water path (16 g m−2) compared to those with easterly winds. The increased height and rarity of persistent MPCs with easterly free-tropospheric winds suggest the island and its orography have an influence on the studied clouds. Seasonal variation in the liquid water path was found to be minimal, although the occurrence of persistent MPCs, their height, and their ice water path all showed notable seasonal dependency. Most of the studied MPCs were decoupled from the surface (63 %–82 % of the time). The coupled clouds had 41 % higher liquid water path than the fully decoupled ones. Local winds in the fjord were related to the frequency of surface coupling, and we propose that katabatic winds from the glaciers in the vicinity of the station may cause clouds to decouple. We concluded that while the regional to large-scale wind direction was important for the persistent MPC occurrence and properties, the local-scale phenomena (local wind patterns in the fjord and surface coupling) also had an influence. Moreover, this suggests that local boundary layer processes should be described in models in order to present low-level MPC properties accurately.

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The influence of anomalous atmospheric conditions at Ny-Ålesund on clouds and their radiative effect

Cited by 3 publications

References 55 publications

The role of nanoparticles in Arctic cloud formation

The role of nanoparticles in Arctic cloud formation

Ice Aggregation in Low‐Level Mixed‐Phase Clouds at a High Arctic Site: Enhanced by Dendritic Growth and Absent Close to the Melting Level

Low-level mixed-phase clouds in a complex Arctic environment

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