The Turbulent Structure of the Arctic Summer Boundary Layer During The Arctic Summer Cloud‐Ocean Study

Brooks, Ian M.; Tjernström, Michael; Persson, P. Ola G.; Shupe, Matthew D.; Atkinson, Rebecca A.; Canut, Guylaine; Birch, Cathryn E.; Mauritsen, Thorsten; Sedlar, Joseph; Brooks, Barbara J.

doi:10.1002/2017JD027234

Title: The Turbulent Structure of the Arctic Summer Boundary Layer During The Arctic Summer Cloud‐Ocean Study

Journal Article · Wed Sep 27 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027234· OSTI ID:1395400

^[1];

^[2];

^[3];

^[3]; Atkinson, Rebecca A. ^[1]; Canut, Guylaine ^[4]; Birch, Cathryn E. ^[1];

^[5]; Sedlar, Joseph ^[6]; Brooks, Barbara J. ^[7]

School of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UK
Department of Meteorology and the Bert Bolin Centre for Climate Research Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USA, NOAA‐ESRL Boulder CO USA
CNRM‐GAME (Météo‐France and CNRS) Toulouse France
Max Planck Institute for Meteorology Hamburg Germany
Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute Norrköping Sweden
School of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UK, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment University of Leeds Leeds UK

Abstract The mostly ice covered Arctic Ocean is dominated by low‐level liquid‐ or mixed‐phase clouds. Turbulence within stratocumulus is primarily driven by cloud top cooling that induces convective instability. Using a suite of in situ and remote sensing instruments we characterize turbulent mixing in Arctic stratocumulus, and for the first time we estimate profiles of the gradient Richardson number at relatively high resolution in both time (10 min) and altitude (10 m). It is found that the mixing occurs both within the cloud, as expected, and by wind shear instability near the surface. About 75% of the time these two layers are separated by a stably stratified inversion at 100–200 m altitude. Exceptions are associated with low cloud bases that allow the cloud‐driven turbulence to reach the surface. The results imply that turbulent coupling between the surface and the cloud is sporadic or intermittent.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: DE‐SC0007005; DE‐SC0011918; SC0007005; SC0011918

OSTI ID:: 1395400

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1395401; OSTI ID: 1466742

Journal Information:: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Vol. 122 Journal Issue: 18; ISSN 2169-897X

Publisher:: American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 44 works

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