A comparison of cloud properties at a coastal and inland site at the North Slope of Alaska

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
• Main Authors: Doran, J. C., Zhong, S., Liljegren, J. C., Jakob, C.
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Barrow; north slope; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/15001941; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/15001941; https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JD000819

In this study, we have examined differences in cloud liquid water paths (LWPs) at a coastal (Barrow) and an inland (Atqasuk) location on the North Slope of Alaska using microwave radiometer (MWR) data collected by the U.S. Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program for the period June-September 1999. Revised retrieval procedures and a filtering algorithm to eliminate data contaminated by wet windows on the MWRs were employed to extract high-quality data suitable for this study. For clouds with low base heights (<350 m), the LWPs at the coastal site were significantly higher than those at the inland site, but for clouds with higher base heights the differences were small. Air-surface interactions may account for some of the differences. Comparisons were also made between observed LWPs and those simulated with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model. The model usually successfully captured the occurrence of cloudy periods but it underpredicted the LWPs by approximately a factor of two. It was also unsuccessful in reproducing the observed differences in LWPs between Barrow and Atqasuk. Some suggestions on possible improvements in the model are presented.