The Contribution of Drifting Snow to Cloud Properties and the Atmospheric Radiative Budget Over Antarctica

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Hofer, Stefan, Amory, Charles, Kittel, Christoph, Carlsen, Tim, Le Toumelin, Louis, Storelvmo, Trude
• Other Authors: Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP ), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Centre national de recherches météorologiques (CNRM), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: climate; Antarctica; Glaciology; clouds; drifting snow; blowing snow; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668372; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668372/document; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03668372/file/Geophysical%20Research%20Letters%20-%202021%20-%20Hofer%20-%20The%20Contribution%20of%20Drifting%20Snow%20to%20Cloud%20Properties%20and%20the%20Atmospheric.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094967

International audience The Antarctic Ice Sheet experiences perpetual katabatic winds, transporting snow, and moisture from the interior towards the periphery. However, the impacts of Antarctic moisture and drifting snow on cloud structure and surface energy fluxes have not been widely investigated. Here, we use a regional climate model with a newly developed drifting snow scheme to show that accounting for drifting snow notably alters the spatial distribution, vertical structure and radiative effect of clouds over Antarctica. Overall, we find that accounting for drifting snow leads to a greater cloud cover providing an increase of +2.74 Wm -2 in the surface radiative energy budget. Additionally, a comparison with 20 weather stations reveals a 2.17 Wm -2 improvement in representing the radiative energy fluxes. Our results highlight the need to study the impact of drifting snow processes on the future evolution of clouds, the surface energy budget and the vertical atmospheric structure over Antarctica.