Ubiquitous low-level liquid-containing Arctic clouds: New observations and climate model constraints from CALIPSO-GOCCP

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Cesana, G., Kay, J.E., Chepfer, H., English, J.M., De Boer, G.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-École polytechnique (X)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Climate and Global Dynamics Division Boulder (CGD), National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder (NCAR), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder -National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley (LBNL)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2012
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Arctic Basin
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01116274; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01116274/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01116274/file/2012GL053385.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL053385

International audience Ground-based observations show that persistent liquid-containing Arctic clouds occur frequently and have a dominant influence on Arctic surface radiative fluxes. Yet, without a hemispheric multi-year perspective, the climate relevance of these intriguing Arctic cloud observations was previously unknown. In this study, Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) observations are used to document cloud phase over the Arctic basin (60-82N) during a five-year period (2006-2011). Over Arctic ocean-covered areas, low-level liquid-containing clouds are prevalent in all seasons, especially in Fall. These new CALIPSO observations provide a unique and climate-relevant constraint on Arctic cloud processes. Evaluation of one climate model using a lidar simulator suggests a lack of liquid-containing Arctic clouds contributes to a lack of "radiatively opaque" states. The surface radiation biases found in this one model are found in multiple models, highlighting the need for improved modeling of Arctic cloud phase. © 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.