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Title: A comparison of cloud properties at a coastal and inland site at the North Slope of Alaska

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JD000819· OSTI ID:15001941
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  2. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
  3. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Reading (England)
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In this study, we have examined differences in cloud liquid water paths (LWPs) at a coastal (Barrow) and an inland (Atqasuk) location on the North Slope of Alaska using microwave radiometer (MWR) data collected by the U.S. Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program for the period June-September 1999. Revised retrieval procedures and a filtering algorithm to eliminate data contaminated by wet windows on the MWRs were employed to extract high-quality data suitable for this study. For clouds with low base heights (<350 m), the LWPs at the coastal site were significantly higher than those at the inland site, but for clouds with higher base heights the differences were small. Air-surface interactions may account for some of the differences. Comparisons were also made between observed LWPs and those simulated with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model. The model usually successfully captured the occurrence of cloudy periods but it underpredicted the LWPs by approximately a factor of two. It was also unsuccessful in reproducing the observed differences in LWPs between Barrow and Atqasuk. Some suggestions on possible improvements in the model are presented.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830; W-31109-Eng-38
OSTI ID:
15001941
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-35459; KP1201030
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 107, Issue D11; ISSN 0148-0227
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 11 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (1)

The Atmospheric radiation measurement (ARM) program network of microwave radiometers: instrumentation, data, and retrievals journal January 2013

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
arctic clouds
cloud liquid water
microwave radiometer
ECMWF model
air-surface interactions