Surface radiation climatology for Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (78.9° N), basic observations for trend detection

• Published in: Theoretical and Applied Climatology
• Main Authors: Maturilli, Marion, Herber, Andreas, König-Langlo, Gert
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: SPRINGER 2015
• Subjects: Arctic; Ny-Ålesund; Svalbard; Ny Ålesund
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/35627/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/35627/1/Maturilli_et_al_TAAC_2014.pdf; http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00704-014-1173-4; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.43631; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.43631.d001

At Ny-Ålesund (78.9° N), Svalbard, surface radiation measurements of up- and downward short- and longwave radiation are operated since August 1992 in the frame of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN), complemented with surface and upper air meteorology since August 1993. The long-term observations are the base for a climatological presentation of the surface radiation data. Over the 21-year observation period, ongoing changes in the Arctic climate system are reflected. Particularly, the observations indicate a strong seasonality of surface warming and related changes in different radiation parameters. The annual mean temperature at Ny-Ålesund has risen by +1.3 ± 0.7 K per decade, with a maximum seasonal increase during the winter months of +3.1 ± 2.6 K per decade. At the same time, winter is also the season with the largest long-term changes in radiation, featuring an increase of +15.6 ± 11.6 Wm−2 per decade in the downward longwave radiation. Furthermore, changes in the reflected solar radiation during the months of snow melt indicate an earlier onset of the warm season by about 1 week compared to the beginning of the observations. The supplementary dataset of Ny-Ålesund surface radiation measurements (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.150000) provides a valuable data source for the validation of satellite instruments and climate models.