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Title: Properties of Arctic liquid and mixed-phase clouds from shipborne Cloudnet observations during ACSE 2014

Journal Article · · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online)
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6];  [3]; ORCiD logo [7]
  1. Univ. of Leeds, Leeds (United Kingdom); German Weather Service, HohenpeiBenberg (Germany)
  2. Finnish Meteorological Inst., Helsinki (Finland); Univ. of Reading (United Kingdom)
  3. Univ. of Leeds, Leeds (United Kingdom)
  4. Stockholm Univ. (Sweden); Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne (Switzerland)
  5. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
  6. Univ. of Cologne (Germany)
  7. Stockholm Univ. (Sweden)

This article presents Cloudnet retrievals of Arctic clouds from measurements conducted during a 3-month research expedition along the Siberian shelf during summer and autumn 2014. During autumn, we find a strong reduction in the occurrence of liquid clouds and an increase for both mixed-phase and ice clouds at low levels compared to summer. About 80 % of all liquid clouds observed during the research cruise show a liquid water path below the infrared black body limit of approximately 50 g m-2. The majority of mixed-phase and ice clouds had an ice water path below 20 g m-2. Cloud properties are analysed with respect to cloud-top temperature and boundary layer structure. Changes in these parameters have little effect on the geometric thickness of liquid clouds while mixed-phase clouds during warm-air advection events are generally thinner than when such events were absent. Cloud-top temperatures are very similar for all mixed-phase clouds. However, more cases of lower cloud-top temperature were observed in the absence of warm-air advection. Profiles of liquid and ice water content are normalized with respect to cloud base and height. For liquid water clouds, the liquid water content profile reveals a strong increase with height with a maximum within the upper quarter of the clouds followed by a sharp decrease towards cloud top. Liquid water content is lowest for clouds observed below an inversion during warm-air advection events. Most mixed-phase clouds show a liquid water content profile with a very similar shape to that of liquid clouds but with lower maximum values during events with warm air above the planetary boundary layer. The normalized ice water content profiles in mixed-phase clouds look different from those of liquid water content. They show a wider range in maximum values with the lowest ice water content for clouds below an inversion and the highest values for clouds above or extending through an inversion. The ice water content profile generally peaks at a height below the peak in the liquid water content profile – usually in the centre of the cloud, sometimes closer to cloud base, likely due to particle sublimation as the crystals fall through the cloud.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation; US Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR); UK Natural Environment Research Council
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0011918; KAW 2011.2007; N00014120235; 2013-5334; 2012-5098; SU FV-5.1.2-2419-13; NE/K011820/1
OSTI ID:
1737523
Journal Information:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online), Vol. 20, Issue 23; ISSN 1680-7324
Publisher:
European Geosciences UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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