Summertime low clouds mediate the impact of the large-scale circulation on Arctic sea ice
The rapid Arctic sea ice retreat in the early 21 st century is believed to be driven by several dynamic and thermodynamic feedbacks, such as ice-albedo feedback and water vapor feedback. However, the role of clouds in these feedbacks remains unclear since the causality between clouds and these proce...
Published in: | Communications Earth & Environment |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1958426 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1958426 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00114-w |
id |
ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1958426 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftosti:oai:osti.gov:1958426 2023-07-30T03:55:38+02:00 Summertime low clouds mediate the impact of the large-scale circulation on Arctic sea ice Huang, Yiyi Ding, Qinghua Dong, Xiquan Xi, Baike Baxter, Ian 2023-03-08 application/pdf http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1958426 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1958426 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00114-w unknown http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1958426 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1958426 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00114-w doi:10.1038/s43247-021-00114-w 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 2023 ftosti https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00114-w 2023-07-11T10:24:54Z The rapid Arctic sea ice retreat in the early 21 st century is believed to be driven by several dynamic and thermodynamic feedbacks, such as ice-albedo feedback and water vapor feedback. However, the role of clouds in these feedbacks remains unclear since the causality between clouds and these processes is complex. Here, we use NASA CERES satellite products and NCAR CESM model simulations to suggest that summertime low clouds have played an important role in driving sea ice melt by amplifying the adiabatic warming induced by a stronger anticyclonic circulation aloft. The upper-level high pressure regulates low clouds through stronger downward motion and increasing lower troposphere relative humidity. The increased low clouds favor more sea ice melt via emitting stronger longwave radiation. Then decreased surface albedo triggers a positive ice-albedo feedback, which further enhances sea ice melt. Considering the importance of summertime low clouds, accurate simulation of this process is a prerequisite for climate models to produce reliable future projections of Arctic sea ice. Other/Unknown Material albedo Arctic Sea ice SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) Arctic Communications Earth & Environment 2 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
SciTec Connect (Office of Scientific and Technical Information - OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy) |
op_collection_id |
ftosti |
language |
unknown |
topic |
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES |
spellingShingle |
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Huang, Yiyi Ding, Qinghua Dong, Xiquan Xi, Baike Baxter, Ian Summertime low clouds mediate the impact of the large-scale circulation on Arctic sea ice |
topic_facet |
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES |
description |
The rapid Arctic sea ice retreat in the early 21 st century is believed to be driven by several dynamic and thermodynamic feedbacks, such as ice-albedo feedback and water vapor feedback. However, the role of clouds in these feedbacks remains unclear since the causality between clouds and these processes is complex. Here, we use NASA CERES satellite products and NCAR CESM model simulations to suggest that summertime low clouds have played an important role in driving sea ice melt by amplifying the adiabatic warming induced by a stronger anticyclonic circulation aloft. The upper-level high pressure regulates low clouds through stronger downward motion and increasing lower troposphere relative humidity. The increased low clouds favor more sea ice melt via emitting stronger longwave radiation. Then decreased surface albedo triggers a positive ice-albedo feedback, which further enhances sea ice melt. Considering the importance of summertime low clouds, accurate simulation of this process is a prerequisite for climate models to produce reliable future projections of Arctic sea ice. |
author |
Huang, Yiyi Ding, Qinghua Dong, Xiquan Xi, Baike Baxter, Ian |
author_facet |
Huang, Yiyi Ding, Qinghua Dong, Xiquan Xi, Baike Baxter, Ian |
author_sort |
Huang, Yiyi |
title |
Summertime low clouds mediate the impact of the large-scale circulation on Arctic sea ice |
title_short |
Summertime low clouds mediate the impact of the large-scale circulation on Arctic sea ice |
title_full |
Summertime low clouds mediate the impact of the large-scale circulation on Arctic sea ice |
title_fullStr |
Summertime low clouds mediate the impact of the large-scale circulation on Arctic sea ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Summertime low clouds mediate the impact of the large-scale circulation on Arctic sea ice |
title_sort |
summertime low clouds mediate the impact of the large-scale circulation on arctic sea ice |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1958426 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1958426 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00114-w |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
albedo Arctic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Sea ice |
op_relation |
http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1958426 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1958426 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00114-w doi:10.1038/s43247-021-00114-w |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00114-w |
container_title |
Communications Earth & Environment |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1772821066109943808 |