Investigating the radiative effect of Arctic cirrus measured in situ during the winter 2015–2016
The radiative energy budget in the Arctic undergoes a rapid transformation compared with global mean changes. Understanding the role of cirrus clouds in this system is vital, as they interact with short- and long-wave radiation, and the presence of cirrus can be decisive as to a net gain or loss of...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1d4b3c3c7a5e47d983852ab4e443050c 2023-05-15T13:11:44+02:00 Investigating the radiative effect of Arctic cirrus measured in situ during the winter 2015–2016 A. Marsing R. Meerkötter R. Heller S. Kaufmann T. Jurkat-Witschas M. Krämer C. Rolf C. Voigt 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-587-2023 https://doaj.org/article/1d4b3c3c7a5e47d983852ab4e443050c EN eng Copernicus Publications https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/587/2023/acp-23-587-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-23-587-2023 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/1d4b3c3c7a5e47d983852ab4e443050c Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 23, Pp 587-609 (2023) Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-587-2023 2023-01-22T01:41:03Z The radiative energy budget in the Arctic undergoes a rapid transformation compared with global mean changes. Understanding the role of cirrus clouds in this system is vital, as they interact with short- and long-wave radiation, and the presence of cirrus can be decisive as to a net gain or loss of radiative energy in the polar atmosphere. In an effort to derive the radiative properties of cirrus in a real scenario in this sensitive region, we use in situ measurements of the ice water content (IWC) performed during the Polar Stratosphere in a Changing Climate (POLSTRACC) aircraft campaign in the boreal winter and spring 2015–2016 employing the German High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO). A large dataset of IWC measurements of mostly thin cirrus at high northern latitudes was collected in the upper troposphere and also frequently in the lowermost stratosphere. From this dataset, we select vertical profiles that sampled the complete vertical extent of cirrus cloud layers. These profiles exhibit a vertical IWC structure that will be shown to control the instantaneous radiative effect in both the long and short wavelength regimes in the polar winter. We perform radiative transfer calculations with the uvspec model from the libRadtran software package in a one-dimensional column between the surface and the top of the atmosphere (TOA), using the IWC profiles as well as the state of the atmospheric column at the time of measurement, as given by weather forecast products, as input. In parameter studies, we vary the surface albedo and solar zenith angle in ranges typical of the Arctic region. We find the strongest (positive) radiative forcing up to about 48 W m −2 for cirrus over bright snow, whereas the forcing is mostly weaker and even ambiguous, with a rather symmetric range of values down to <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">35</mn><mspace ... Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 23 1 587 609 |
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English |
topic |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
spellingShingle |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 A. Marsing R. Meerkötter R. Heller S. Kaufmann T. Jurkat-Witschas M. Krämer C. Rolf C. Voigt Investigating the radiative effect of Arctic cirrus measured in situ during the winter 2015–2016 |
topic_facet |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
description |
The radiative energy budget in the Arctic undergoes a rapid transformation compared with global mean changes. Understanding the role of cirrus clouds in this system is vital, as they interact with short- and long-wave radiation, and the presence of cirrus can be decisive as to a net gain or loss of radiative energy in the polar atmosphere. In an effort to derive the radiative properties of cirrus in a real scenario in this sensitive region, we use in situ measurements of the ice water content (IWC) performed during the Polar Stratosphere in a Changing Climate (POLSTRACC) aircraft campaign in the boreal winter and spring 2015–2016 employing the German High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO). A large dataset of IWC measurements of mostly thin cirrus at high northern latitudes was collected in the upper troposphere and also frequently in the lowermost stratosphere. From this dataset, we select vertical profiles that sampled the complete vertical extent of cirrus cloud layers. These profiles exhibit a vertical IWC structure that will be shown to control the instantaneous radiative effect in both the long and short wavelength regimes in the polar winter. We perform radiative transfer calculations with the uvspec model from the libRadtran software package in a one-dimensional column between the surface and the top of the atmosphere (TOA), using the IWC profiles as well as the state of the atmospheric column at the time of measurement, as given by weather forecast products, as input. In parameter studies, we vary the surface albedo and solar zenith angle in ranges typical of the Arctic region. We find the strongest (positive) radiative forcing up to about 48 W m −2 for cirrus over bright snow, whereas the forcing is mostly weaker and even ambiguous, with a rather symmetric range of values down to <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">35</mn><mspace ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. Marsing R. Meerkötter R. Heller S. Kaufmann T. Jurkat-Witschas M. Krämer C. Rolf C. Voigt |
author_facet |
A. Marsing R. Meerkötter R. Heller S. Kaufmann T. Jurkat-Witschas M. Krämer C. Rolf C. Voigt |
author_sort |
A. Marsing |
title |
Investigating the radiative effect of Arctic cirrus measured in situ during the winter 2015–2016 |
title_short |
Investigating the radiative effect of Arctic cirrus measured in situ during the winter 2015–2016 |
title_full |
Investigating the radiative effect of Arctic cirrus measured in situ during the winter 2015–2016 |
title_fullStr |
Investigating the radiative effect of Arctic cirrus measured in situ during the winter 2015–2016 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Investigating the radiative effect of Arctic cirrus measured in situ during the winter 2015–2016 |
title_sort |
investigating the radiative effect of arctic cirrus measured in situ during the winter 2015–2016 |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-587-2023 https://doaj.org/article/1d4b3c3c7a5e47d983852ab4e443050c |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
albedo Arctic |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 23, Pp 587-609 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/587/2023/acp-23-587-2023.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-23-587-2023 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/1d4b3c3c7a5e47d983852ab4e443050c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-587-2023 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
23 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
587 |
op_container_end_page |
609 |
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1766248759589601280 |