The Arctic summer atmosphere: an evaluation of reanalyses using ASCOS data
The Arctic has experienced large climate changes over recent decades, the largest for any region on Earth. To understand the underlying reasons for this climate sensitivity, reanalysis is an invaluable tool. The Arctic System Reanalysis (ASR) is a regional reanalysis, forced by ERA-Interim at the la...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2014-03-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/14/2605/2014/acp-14-2605-2014.pdf |
| _version_ | 1819263187693862912 |
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| author | C. Wesslén M. Tjernström D. H. Bromwich G. de Boer A. M. L. Ekman L.-S. Bai S.-H. Wang |
| author_facet | C. Wesslén M. Tjernström D. H. Bromwich G. de Boer A. M. L. Ekman L.-S. Bai S.-H. Wang |
| author_sort | C. Wesslén |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Arctic has experienced large climate changes over recent decades, the
largest for any region on Earth. To understand the underlying reasons for
this climate sensitivity, reanalysis is an invaluable tool. The Arctic
System Reanalysis (ASR) is a regional reanalysis, forced by ERA-Interim at
the lateral boundaries and incorporating model physics adapted to Arctic
conditions, developed to serve as a state-of-the-art, high-resolution
synthesis tool for assessing Arctic climate variability and monitoring
Arctic climate change.
<br><br>
We use data from Arctic Summer Cloud-Ocean Study (ASCOS) to evaluate the
performance of ASR and ERA-Interim for the Arctic Ocean. The ASCOS field
experiment was deployed on the Swedish icebreaker <i>Oden</i> north of
87° N in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic during August and early
September 2008. Data were collected during the transits from and to
Longyearbyen and the 3-week ice drift with <i>Oden</i> moored to a drifting
multiyear ice floe. These data are independent and detailed enough to
evaluate process descriptions.
<br><br>
The reanalyses captures basic meteorological variations coupled to the
synoptic-scale systems, but have difficulties in estimating clouds and
atmospheric moisture. While ERA-Interim has a systematic warm bias in the
lowest troposphere, ASR has a cold bias of about the same magnitude on
average. The results also indicate that more sophisticated descriptions of
cloud microphysics in ASR did not significantly improve the modeling of
cloud properties compared to ERA-Interim. This has consequences for the
radiation balance, and hence the surface temperature, and illustrate how a
modeling problem in one aspect of the atmosphere, here the clouds, feeds
back to other parameters, especially near the surface and in the boundary
layer. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T20:09:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-571c69e7a4894193801d388f0f4fa1f2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T20:09:36Z |
| publishDate | 2014-03-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-571c69e7a4894193801d388f0f4fa1f22022-12-21T17:32:50ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics1680-73161680-73242014-03-011452605262410.5194/acp-14-2605-2014The Arctic summer atmosphere: an evaluation of reanalyses using ASCOS dataC. Wesslén0M. Tjernström1D. H. Bromwich2G. de Boer3A. M. L. Ekman4L.-S. Bai5S.-H. Wang6Department of Meteorology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Meteorology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenAtmospheric Sciences Program, Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USACooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USADepartment of Meteorology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenPolar Meteorology Group, Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USAPolar Meteorology Group, Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USAThe Arctic has experienced large climate changes over recent decades, the largest for any region on Earth. To understand the underlying reasons for this climate sensitivity, reanalysis is an invaluable tool. The Arctic System Reanalysis (ASR) is a regional reanalysis, forced by ERA-Interim at the lateral boundaries and incorporating model physics adapted to Arctic conditions, developed to serve as a state-of-the-art, high-resolution synthesis tool for assessing Arctic climate variability and monitoring Arctic climate change. <br><br> We use data from Arctic Summer Cloud-Ocean Study (ASCOS) to evaluate the performance of ASR and ERA-Interim for the Arctic Ocean. The ASCOS field experiment was deployed on the Swedish icebreaker <i>Oden</i> north of 87° N in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic during August and early September 2008. Data were collected during the transits from and to Longyearbyen and the 3-week ice drift with <i>Oden</i> moored to a drifting multiyear ice floe. These data are independent and detailed enough to evaluate process descriptions. <br><br> The reanalyses captures basic meteorological variations coupled to the synoptic-scale systems, but have difficulties in estimating clouds and atmospheric moisture. While ERA-Interim has a systematic warm bias in the lowest troposphere, ASR has a cold bias of about the same magnitude on average. The results also indicate that more sophisticated descriptions of cloud microphysics in ASR did not significantly improve the modeling of cloud properties compared to ERA-Interim. This has consequences for the radiation balance, and hence the surface temperature, and illustrate how a modeling problem in one aspect of the atmosphere, here the clouds, feeds back to other parameters, especially near the surface and in the boundary layer.http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/14/2605/2014/acp-14-2605-2014.pdf |
| spellingShingle | C. Wesslén M. Tjernström D. H. Bromwich G. de Boer A. M. L. Ekman L.-S. Bai S.-H. Wang The Arctic summer atmosphere: an evaluation of reanalyses using ASCOS data Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| title | The Arctic summer atmosphere: an evaluation of reanalyses using ASCOS data |
| title_full | The Arctic summer atmosphere: an evaluation of reanalyses using ASCOS data |
| title_fullStr | The Arctic summer atmosphere: an evaluation of reanalyses using ASCOS data |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Arctic summer atmosphere: an evaluation of reanalyses using ASCOS data |
| title_short | The Arctic summer atmosphere: an evaluation of reanalyses using ASCOS data |
| title_sort | arctic summer atmosphere an evaluation of reanalyses using ascos data |
| url | http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/14/2605/2014/acp-14-2605-2014.pdf |
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