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Title: Mixed-phase cloud physics and Southern Ocean cloud feedback in climate models

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023603· OSTI ID:1410025
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  3. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States); Univ. of Reading, Reading (United Kingdom)
  4. Univ. of Leeds, Leeds (United Kingdom)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Abstract Increasing optical depth poleward of 45° is a robust response to warming in global climate models. Much of this cloud optical depth increase has been hypothesized to be due to transitions from ice‐dominated to liquid‐dominated mixed‐phase cloud. In this study, the importance of liquid‐ice partitioning for the optical depth feedback is quantified for 19 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 models. All models show a monotonic partitioning of ice and liquid as a function of temperature, but the temperature at which ice and liquid are equally mixed (the glaciation temperature) varies by as much as 40 K across models. Models that have a higher glaciation temperature are found to have a smaller climatological liquid water path (LWP) and condensed water path and experience a larger increase in LWP as the climate warms. The ice‐liquid partitioning curve of each model may be used to calculate the response of LWP to warming. It is found that the repartitioning between ice and liquid in a warming climate contributes at least 20% to 80% of the increase in LWP as the climate warms, depending on model. Intermodel differences in the climatological partitioning between ice and liquid are estimated to contribute at least 20% to the intermodel spread in the high‐latitude LWP response in the mixed‐phase region poleward of 45°S. It is hypothesized that a more thorough evaluation and constraint of global climate model mixed‐phase cloud parameterizations and validation of the total condensate and ice‐liquid apportionment against observations will yield a substantial reduction in model uncertainty in the high‐latitude cloud response to warming.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344; DE‐SC0012580
OSTI ID:
1410025
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1402221
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-741060
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 120, Issue 18; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 112 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (17)

Cloud glaciation temperature estimation from passive remote sensing data with evolutionary computing: CLOUD GLACIATION TEMPERATURE ESTIMATION journal November 2016
Cloud feedback mechanisms and their representation in global climate models: Cloud feedback mechanisms and their representation in GCMs journal May 2017
Reducing Uncertainties in Climate Projections with Emergent Constraints: Concepts, Examples and Prospects journal December 2019
Which way will the circulation shift in a changing climate? Possible nonlinearity of extratropical cloud feedbacks journal August 2016
The influence of extratropical cloud phase and amount feedbacks on climate sensitivity journal July 2017
Satellite‐Based Detection of Daytime Supercooled Liquid‐Topped Mixed‐Phase Clouds Over the Southern Ocean Using the Advanced Himawari Imager journal March 2019
Strong control of Southern Ocean cloud reflectivity by ice-nucleating particles journal February 2018
Improved simulation of Antarctic sea ice due to the radiative effects of falling snow journal August 2017
Effects of atmospheric dynamics and aerosols on the fraction of supercooled water clouds journal January 2017
Contribution of feldspar and marine organic aerosols to global ice nucleating particle concentrations journal January 2017
The importance of mixed-phase and ice clouds for climate sensitivity in the global aerosol–climate model ECHAM6-HAM2 journal January 2018
Cloud feedbacks in extratropical cyclones: insight from long-term satellite data and high-resolution global simulations journal January 2019
Microphysics of summer clouds in central West Antarctica simulated by the Polar Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) and the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) journal January 2019
Global spectroscopic survey of cloud thermodynamic phase at high spatial resolution, 2005–2015 journal January 2018
Significant improvement of cloud representation in the global climate model MRI-ESM2 journal January 2019
Cloud glaciation temperature estimation from passive remote sensing data with evolutionary computing text January 2016
Global Spectroscopic Survey of Cloud Thermodynamic Phase at High Spatial Resolution, 2005-2015 posted_content November 2017

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Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
climate
Southern Ocean
feedbacks
mixed phase
clouds