The stable atmospheric boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice: Model valuation with fine-scale ISOBAR18 observations
A realistic representation of the stable atmospheric boundary layer in numerical weather prediction (NWP) and climate models is still a challenge. We study the evolution of a stable boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice in Bothnian Bay during wintertime in 2018. We perform high-resolution model e...
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ftunivwagenin:oai:library.wur.nl:wurpubs/598109 2024-02-11T10:08:30+01:00 The stable atmospheric boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice: Model valuation with fine-scale ISOBAR18 observations Lorenz, Torge Mayer, Stephanie Kral, Stephan T. Suomi, Irene Steeneveld, G.J. Holtslag, Bert 2022 application/pdf https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/the-stable-atmospheric-boundary-layer-over-snow-covered-sea-ice-m https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4293 en eng https://edepot.wur.nl/571131 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/the-stable-atmospheric-boundary-layer-over-snow-covered-sea-ice-m doi:10.1002/qj.4293 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Wageningen University & Research Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 148 (2022) 745 ISSN: 0035-9009 Life Science Article/Letter to editor 2022 ftunivwagenin https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4293 2024-01-24T23:14:00Z A realistic representation of the stable atmospheric boundary layer in numerical weather prediction (NWP) and climate models is still a challenge. We study the evolution of a stable boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice in Bothnian Bay during wintertime in 2018. We perform high-resolution model experiments with the Weather Research and Forecasting model in its single-column model configuration and its default mesoscale configuration to assess which physical processes are essential to predict near-surface variables correctly. We evaluate our model runs against the unique observational dataset collected during ISOBAR18, which combines novel, upper-air measurements by an uncrewed aircraft system with wind lidar, sodar, and conventional meteorological mast data. By analysing surface fluxes in the single-column model, we demonstrate how the atmospheric cooling at the ground can be modelled more realistically than in the mesoscale set-up. We show that surface albedo and sea-ice thickness are essential for the surface energy balance in the model, and we demonstrate how the surface fluxes in the mesoscale downscaling with default settings are subject to strong biases. We also show that the ERA5 reanalysis is not capable of representing the observed surface meteorology in the stable atmospheric boundary layer. Our study illustrates the importance of surface albedo and sea-ice thickness for NWP models. Though a seasonal snow albedo is already in use in many NWP settings, the routine inclusion of sea-ice thickness, in particular, would be a great step forward for weather forecasts and regional climate simulations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Sea ice Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 148 745 2031 2046 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwagenin |
language |
English |
topic |
Life Science |
spellingShingle |
Life Science Lorenz, Torge Mayer, Stephanie Kral, Stephan T. Suomi, Irene Steeneveld, G.J. Holtslag, Bert The stable atmospheric boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice: Model valuation with fine-scale ISOBAR18 observations |
topic_facet |
Life Science |
description |
A realistic representation of the stable atmospheric boundary layer in numerical weather prediction (NWP) and climate models is still a challenge. We study the evolution of a stable boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice in Bothnian Bay during wintertime in 2018. We perform high-resolution model experiments with the Weather Research and Forecasting model in its single-column model configuration and its default mesoscale configuration to assess which physical processes are essential to predict near-surface variables correctly. We evaluate our model runs against the unique observational dataset collected during ISOBAR18, which combines novel, upper-air measurements by an uncrewed aircraft system with wind lidar, sodar, and conventional meteorological mast data. By analysing surface fluxes in the single-column model, we demonstrate how the atmospheric cooling at the ground can be modelled more realistically than in the mesoscale set-up. We show that surface albedo and sea-ice thickness are essential for the surface energy balance in the model, and we demonstrate how the surface fluxes in the mesoscale downscaling with default settings are subject to strong biases. We also show that the ERA5 reanalysis is not capable of representing the observed surface meteorology in the stable atmospheric boundary layer. Our study illustrates the importance of surface albedo and sea-ice thickness for NWP models. Though a seasonal snow albedo is already in use in many NWP settings, the routine inclusion of sea-ice thickness, in particular, would be a great step forward for weather forecasts and regional climate simulations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lorenz, Torge Mayer, Stephanie Kral, Stephan T. Suomi, Irene Steeneveld, G.J. Holtslag, Bert |
author_facet |
Lorenz, Torge Mayer, Stephanie Kral, Stephan T. Suomi, Irene Steeneveld, G.J. Holtslag, Bert |
author_sort |
Lorenz, Torge |
title |
The stable atmospheric boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice: Model valuation with fine-scale ISOBAR18 observations |
title_short |
The stable atmospheric boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice: Model valuation with fine-scale ISOBAR18 observations |
title_full |
The stable atmospheric boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice: Model valuation with fine-scale ISOBAR18 observations |
title_fullStr |
The stable atmospheric boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice: Model valuation with fine-scale ISOBAR18 observations |
title_full_unstemmed |
The stable atmospheric boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice: Model valuation with fine-scale ISOBAR18 observations |
title_sort |
stable atmospheric boundary layer over snow-covered sea ice: model valuation with fine-scale isobar18 observations |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/the-stable-atmospheric-boundary-layer-over-snow-covered-sea-ice-m https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4293 |
genre |
Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Sea ice |
op_source |
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 148 (2022) 745 ISSN: 0035-9009 |
op_relation |
https://edepot.wur.nl/571131 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/the-stable-atmospheric-boundary-layer-over-snow-covered-sea-ice-m doi:10.1002/qj.4293 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Wageningen University & Research |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4293 |
container_title |
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society |
container_volume |
148 |
container_issue |
745 |
container_start_page |
2031 |
op_container_end_page |
2046 |
_version_ |
1790607854207500288 |