Satellite Observations of Organizational Regimes in Low-Level Mixed-Phase Clouds over the Southern Ocean

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Danker ◽  
Odran Sourdeval ◽  
Isabel L. McCoy ◽  
Robert Wood ◽  
Anna Possner
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Ocean Surface ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Pure Liquid ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Radiative Balance ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds

<p>On average stratocumulus clouds cover about 23% of the ocean surface and are important for Earth’s radiative balance. They typically self-organize into cellular patterns and thus are often referred to as mesoscale-cellular convective (MCC) cloud systems. In the Southern Ocean (SO), low-level clouds cover between 20% to 40% of the ocean surface in the mid-latitudes where they exert a substantial radiative cooling. In a previous study, McCoy et al (2017) demonstrated that different MCC regimes may be associated with different cloud albedos and thus different cloud radiative forcing.<br>Many of the MCC clouds in the SO are not pure liquid but contain a mixture of liquid and ice. Here we investigate whether the formation of ice within these mixed-phase clouds influences MCC organization and thus the cloud-radiative effect.<br>To investigate the cloud phase we use the raDAR-liDAR (DARDAR) data product (version 1) from Cloud-Aerosol-Water-Radiation Interactions (ICARE) Data and Services Center which provides collocated data from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), CloudSat and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The “Simplified DARMASK Categorization Flag” of DARDAR is used to categorize the vertically resolved cloud phase into a single cloud phase per data point: clear, multi-layer, liquid, mixed or ice. In order to distinguish between open and<br>closed MCC regimes, we collocate the DARDAR product with an MCC classification data set from McCoy et al (2017) which is based on a neural network algorithm applied to MODIS Aqua data.<br>Our preliminary results confirm previous ground-based observations that most mixed-phase clouds are composed of a supercooled liquid top and ice underneath. Furthermore, our preliminary analysis suggests open MCCs occur more frequently as mixed-phase clouds (57% (DJF), 55% (JJA)) in the SO compared to liquid clouds (39% (DJF), 37% (JJA)) during both summer (DJF) and winter (JJA). In contrast, closed MCCs are more likely to appear as liquid clouds (58%) in comparison to mixed-phase clouds (40%) during winter, whereas during summer there seems to be no tendency for closed MCCs to be either liquid (51%) or mixed (49%).</p>

scholarly journals A Modeling Case Study of Mixed-Phase Clouds over the Southern Ocean and Tasmania

2010 ◽  
Vol 138 (3) ◽  
pp. 839-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony E. Morrison ◽  
Steven T. Siems ◽  
Michael J. Manton ◽  
Alex Nazarov
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Supercooled Liquid ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Weather Research And Forecasting ◽  
Marine Stratocumulus ◽  
Cloud Structure ◽  
In Situ Observations ◽  
Cloud Tops ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds

Abstract The cloud structure associated with two frontal passages over the Southern Ocean and Tasmania is investigated. The first event, during August 2006, is characterized by large quantities of supercooled liquid water and little ice. The second case, during October 2007, is more mixed phase. The Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRFV2.2.1) is evaluated using remote sensed and in situ observations within the post frontal air mass. The Thompson microphysics module is used to describe in-cloud processes, where ice is initiated using the Cooper parameterization at temperatures lower than −8°C or at ice supersaturations greater than 8%. The evaluated cases are then used to numerically investigate the prevalence of supercooled and mixed-phase clouds over Tasmania and the ocean to the west. The simulations produce marine stratocumulus-like clouds with maximum heights of between 3 and 5 km. These are capped by weak temperature and strong moisture inversions. When the inversion is at temperatures warmer than −10°C, WRF produces widespread supercooled cloud fields with little glaciation. This is consistent with the limited in situ observations. When the inversion is at higher altitudes, allowing cooler cloud tops, glaciated (and to a lesser extent mixed phase) clouds are more common. The simulations are further explored to evaluate any orographic signature within the cloud structure over Tasmania. No consistent signature is found between the two cases.

Constraining Neoproterozoic subtropical low-level clouds to assess the plausibility of near-Snowball Earth states

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Braun ◽  
Aiko Voigt ◽  
Johannes Hörner ◽  
Joaquim G. Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Snowball Earth ◽  
Stable Range ◽  
Climate Regime ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds

<p>Stable waterbelt climate states with close to global ice cover challenge the classical Snowball Earth hypothesis because they provide a robust explanation for the survival of advanced marine species during the Neoproterozoic glaciations (1000 – 541 Million years ago). Whether Earth’s climate stabilizes in a waterbelt state or rushes towards a Snowball state is determined by the magnitude of the ice-albedo feedback in the subtropics, where dark, bare sea ice instead of snow-covered sea ice prevails. For a given bare sea-ice albedo, the subtropical ice-albedo feedback and thus the stable range of the waterbelt climate regime is sensitive to the albedo over ice-free ocean, which is largely determined by shortwave cloud-radiative effects (CRE). In the present-day climate, CRE are known to dominate the spread of climate sensitivity across global climate models. We here study the impact of uncertainty associated with CRE on the existence of geologically relevant waterbelt climate regimes using two global climate models and an idealized energy balance model. We find that the stable range of the waterbelt climate regime is very sensitive to the abundance of subtropical low-level mixed-phase clouds. If subtropical cloud cover is low, climate sensitivity becomes so high as to inhibit stable waterbelt states.</p><p>The treatment of mixed-phase clouds is highly uncertain in global climate models. Therefore we aim to constrain the uncertainty associated with their CRE by means of a hierarchy of global and regional simulations that span horizontal grid resolutions from 160 km to 300m, and in particular include large eddy simulations of subtropical mixed-phase clouds located over a low-latitude ice edge. In the cold waterbelt climate subtropical CRE arise from convective events caused by strong meridional temperature gradients and stratocumulus decks located in areas of large-scale descending motion. We identify the latter to dominate subtropical CRE and therefore focus our large eddy simulations on subtropical stratocumulus clouds. By conducting simulations with two extreme scenarios for the abundance of atmospheric mineral dust, which serves as ice-nucleating particles and therefore can control mixed-phase cloud physics, we aim to estimate the possible spread of CRE associated with subtropical mixed-phase clouds. From this estimate we may assess whether Neoproterozoic low-level cloud abundance may have been high enough to sustain a stable waterbelt climate regime.</p>

scholarly journals Atmospheric ionization and cloud radiative forcing

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Svensmark ◽  
Jacob Svensmark ◽  
Martin Bødker Enghoff ◽  
Nir J. Shaviv
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Short Wave ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Wave Radiation ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Radiative Balance ◽  
Cloud Radiative Forcing ◽  
Atmospheric Ionization

AbstractAtmospheric ionization produced by cosmic rays has been suspected to influence aerosols and clouds, but its actual importance has been questioned. If changes in atmospheric ionization have a substantial impact on clouds, one would expect to observe significant responses in Earth’s energy budget. Here it is shown that the average of the five strongest week-long decreases in atmospheric ionization coincides with changes in the average net radiative balance of 1.7 W/m$$^2$$ 2 (median value: 1.2 W/m$$^2$$ 2 ) using CERES satellite observations. Simultaneous satellite observations of clouds show that these variations are mainly caused by changes in the short-wave radiation of low liquid clouds along with small changes in the long-wave radiation, and are almost exclusively located over the pristine areas of the oceans. These observed radiation and cloud changes are consistent with a link in which atmospheric ionization modulates aerosol's formation and growth, which survive to cloud condensation nuclei and ultimately affect cloud formation and thereby temporarily the radiative balance of Earth.

In situ ground based measurements of low level clouds during 10 years of Pallas cloud experiments.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Doulgeris ◽  
David Brus
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Liquid Water ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Liquid Water Content ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Radiative Balance ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Major Factors

<p>Clouds and their interaction with aerosols are considered one of the major factors that are connected with uncertainties in predictions of climate change and are highly associated with earth radiative balance. Semi long term in-situ measurements of Arctic low-level clouds have been conducted during last 10 year (2009 - 2019) autumns at Sammaltunturi station (67◦58´N, 24◦07´E, and 560 m a.s.l.), the part of Pallas Atmosphere - Ecosystem Supersite and Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) programme. During these years a unique data set of continuous and detailed ground-based cloud observations over the sub-Arctic area was obtained. The in-situ cloud measurements were made using two cloud probes that were installed on the roof of the station: the Cloud, Aerosol and Precipitation Spectrometer probe (CAPS) and the Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probe<strong> (</strong>FSSP<strong>)</strong>, both made by droplet measurement technologies (DMT, Longmont, CO, USA). CAPS in­cludes three instruments: the Cloud Imaging Probe (CIP, 12.5 μm-1.55 mm), the Cloud and Aerosol Spectrometer (CAS-DPOL, 0.51-50 μm) with depolarization feature and the Hotwire Liquid Water Content Sensor (Hotwire LWC, 0 - 3 g/m<sup>3</sup>). Vaisala FD12P weather sensor was used to measure all the meteorological data. The essential cloud microphysical parameters we investigated during this work were the size distributions, the total number concentrations, the effective radius of cloud droplets and the cloud liquid water content. The year to year comparison and correlations among semi long term in situ cloud measurements and meteorology are presented.</p>

scholarly journals Process-model simulations of cloud albedo enhancement by aerosols in the Arctic

2014 ◽  
Vol 372 (2031) ◽  
pp. 20140052 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Kravitz ◽  
Hailong Wang ◽  
Philip J. Rasch ◽  
Hugh Morrison ◽  
Amy B. Solomon
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Global Radiation ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Pure Liquid ◽  
Cloud Albedo ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds

A cloud-resolving model is used to simulate the effectiveness of Arctic marine cloud brightening via injection of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), either through geoengineering or other increased sources of Arctic aerosols. An updated cloud microphysical scheme is employed, with prognostic CCN and cloud particle numbers in both liquid and mixed-phase marine low clouds. Injection of CCN into the marine boundary layer can delay the collapse of the boundary layer and increase low-cloud albedo. Albedo increases are stronger for pure liquid clouds than mixed-phase clouds. Liquid precipitation can be suppressed by CCN injection, whereas ice precipitation (snow) is affected less; thus, the effectiveness of brightening mixed-phase clouds is lower than for liquid-only clouds. CCN injection into a clean regime results in a greater albedo increase than injection into a polluted regime, consistent with current knowledge about aerosol–cloud interactions. Unlike previous studies investigating warm clouds, dynamical changes in circulation owing to precipitation changes are small. According to these results, which are dependent upon the representation of ice nucleation processes in the employed microphysical scheme, Arctic geoengineering is unlikely to be effective as the sole means of altering the global radiation budget but could have substantial local radiative effects.

Comparisons and analyses of aircraft and satellite observations for wintertime mixed-phase clouds

2011 ◽  
Vol 116 (D18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoo-Jeong Noh ◽  
Curtis J. Seaman ◽  
Thomas H. Vonder Haar ◽  
David R. Hudak ◽  
Peter Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds

scholarly journals Unexpectedly high ultrafine aerosol concentrations above East Antarctic sea ice

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 2185-2206 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Humphries ◽  
A. R. Klekociuk ◽  
R. Schofield ◽  
M. Keywood ◽  
J. Ward ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Free Troposphere ◽  
Radiative Balance ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Antarctic Sea Ice ◽  
Ocean Region ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. Better characterisation of aerosol processes in pristine, natural environments, such as Antarctica, have recently been shown to lead to the largest reduction in uncertainties in our understanding of radiative forcing. Our understanding of aerosols in the Antarctic region is currently based on measurements that are often limited to boundary layer air masses at spatially sparse coastal and continental research stations, with only a handful of studies in the vast sea-ice region. In this paper, the first observational study of sub-micron aerosols in the East Antarctic sea ice region is presented. Measurements were conducted aboard the icebreaker Aurora Australis in spring 2012 and found that boundary layer condensation nuclei (CN3) concentrations exhibited a five-fold increase moving across the polar front, with mean polar cell concentrations of 1130 cm−3 – higher than any observed elsewhere in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean region. The absence of evidence for aerosol growth suggested that nucleation was unlikely to be local. Air parcel trajectories indicated significant influence from the free troposphere above the Antarctic continent, implicating this as the likely nucleation region for surface aerosol, a similar conclusion to previous Antarctic aerosol studies. The highest aerosol concentrations were found to correlate with low-pressure systems, suggesting that the passage of cyclones provided an accelerated pathway, delivering air masses quickly from the free troposphere to the surface. After descent from the Antarctic free troposphere, trajectories suggest that sea-ice boundary layer air masses travelled equatorward into the low-albedo Southern Ocean region, transporting with them emissions and these aerosol nuclei which, after growth, may potentially impact on the region's radiative balance. The high aerosol concentrations and their transport pathways described here, could help reduce the discrepancy currently present between simulations and observations of cloud and aerosol over the Southern Ocean.

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