Impact of Antarctic mixed-phase clouds on climate
Abstract
Precious little is known about the composition of low-level clouds over the Antarctic Plateau and their effect on climate. In situ measurements at the South Pole using a unique tethered balloon system and ground-based lidar reveal a much higher than anticipated incidence of low-level, mixed-phase clouds (i.e., consisting of supercooled liquid water drops and ice crystals). The high incidence of mixed-phase clouds is currently poorly represented in global climate models (GCMs). As a result, the effects that mixed-phase clouds have on climate predictions are highly uncertain. In this paper, we modify the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Earth System Model (CESM) GCM to align with the new observations and evaluate the radiative effects on a continental scale. The net cloud radiative effects (CREs) over Antarctica are increased by +7.4 Wm–2, and although this is a significant change, a much larger effect occurs when the modified model physics are extended beyond the Antarctic continent. The simulations show significant net CRE over the Southern Ocean storm tracks, where recent measurements also indicate substantial regions of supercooled liquid. Finally, these sensitivity tests confirm that Southern Ocean CREs are strongly sensitive to mixed-phase clouds colder than –20 °C.
- Authors:
-
- SPEC Incorporated, Boulder, CO 80301, and
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- SPEC Inc., Boulder, CO (United States); National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1235101
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1348403
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0006269; SC0006702
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Volume: 111 Journal Issue: 51; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424
- Publisher:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Antarctica; climate; mixed-phase; clouds
Citation Formats
Lawson, R. Paul, and Gettelman, Andrew. Impact of Antarctic mixed-phase clouds on climate. United States: N. p., 2014.
Web. doi:10.1073/pnas.1418197111.
Lawson, R. Paul, & Gettelman, Andrew. Impact of Antarctic mixed-phase clouds on climate. United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1418197111
Lawson, R. Paul, and Gettelman, Andrew. Mon .
"Impact of Antarctic mixed-phase clouds on climate". United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1418197111.
@article{osti_1235101,
title = {Impact of Antarctic mixed-phase clouds on climate},
author = {Lawson, R. Paul and Gettelman, Andrew},
abstractNote = {Precious little is known about the composition of low-level clouds over the Antarctic Plateau and their effect on climate. In situ measurements at the South Pole using a unique tethered balloon system and ground-based lidar reveal a much higher than anticipated incidence of low-level, mixed-phase clouds (i.e., consisting of supercooled liquid water drops and ice crystals). The high incidence of mixed-phase clouds is currently poorly represented in global climate models (GCMs). As a result, the effects that mixed-phase clouds have on climate predictions are highly uncertain. In this paper, we modify the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Earth System Model (CESM) GCM to align with the new observations and evaluate the radiative effects on a continental scale. The net cloud radiative effects (CREs) over Antarctica are increased by +7.4 Wm–2, and although this is a significant change, a much larger effect occurs when the modified model physics are extended beyond the Antarctic continent. The simulations show significant net CRE over the Southern Ocean storm tracks, where recent measurements also indicate substantial regions of supercooled liquid. Finally, these sensitivity tests confirm that Southern Ocean CREs are strongly sensitive to mixed-phase clouds colder than –20 °C.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1418197111},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
number = 51,
volume = 111,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Dec 08 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Mon Dec 08 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1418197111
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