Impacts of Cyclones on Arctic Clouds during Autumn in the Early 21st Century
Our study shows that, during 2001–2017, when the sea ice was melting rapidly, cyclone days accounted for more than 50% of the total autumn days at the sounding stations in the Arctic marginal seas north of the Eurasian continent and almost 50% of the total autumn days at the sounding station on the...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/4/689 |
| _version_ | 1797606448165814272 |
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| author | Xue Liu Yina Diao Ruipeng Sun Qinglong Gong |
| author_facet | Xue Liu Yina Diao Ruipeng Sun Qinglong Gong |
| author_sort | Xue Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Our study shows that, during 2001–2017, when the sea ice was melting rapidly, cyclone days accounted for more than 50% of the total autumn days at the sounding stations in the Arctic marginal seas north of the Eurasian continent and almost 50% of the total autumn days at the sounding station on the northern coast of Canada. It is necessary to investigate the influence of Arctic cyclones on the cloud fraction in autumn when the sea ice refreezes from its summer minimum and the infrared cloud radiative effect becomes increasingly important. Cyclones at the selected stations are characterized by a narrow maximum rising zone with vertically consistent high relative humidity (RH) and a broad region outside the high RH zone with low RH air from the middle troposphere covering the low troposphere’s high relative humidity air. Consequently, on approximately 40% of the cyclone days, the cloud formation condition was improved from the near surface to the upper troposphere due to the cooling of strong rising warm humid air. Therefore, cyclones lead to middle cloud increases and sometimes high cloud increases, since the climatological Arctic autumn clouds are mainly low clouds. On approximately 60% of the cyclone days, only low cloud formed, but the low cloud formation condition was suppressed due to the mixing ratio decrease induced by cold dry air sinking. As a result, cyclones generally lead to a decrease in low clouds. However, the correlation between the cyclones and low clouds is complex and varies with surface ice conditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:15:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b9f9f8f996394ba2a1024f6e4b976758 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:15:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-b9f9f8f996394ba2a1024f6e4b9767582023-11-17T18:17:22ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332023-04-0114468910.3390/atmos14040689Impacts of Cyclones on Arctic Clouds during Autumn in the Early 21st CenturyXue Liu0Yina Diao1Ruipeng Sun2Qinglong Gong3Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System (FDOMES)/Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography/Academy of the Future Ocean/College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, ChinaFrontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System (FDOMES)/Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography/Academy of the Future Ocean/College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, ChinaFrontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System (FDOMES)/Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography/Academy of the Future Ocean/College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, ChinaFrontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System (FDOMES)/Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography/Academy of the Future Ocean/College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, ChinaOur study shows that, during 2001–2017, when the sea ice was melting rapidly, cyclone days accounted for more than 50% of the total autumn days at the sounding stations in the Arctic marginal seas north of the Eurasian continent and almost 50% of the total autumn days at the sounding station on the northern coast of Canada. It is necessary to investigate the influence of Arctic cyclones on the cloud fraction in autumn when the sea ice refreezes from its summer minimum and the infrared cloud radiative effect becomes increasingly important. Cyclones at the selected stations are characterized by a narrow maximum rising zone with vertically consistent high relative humidity (RH) and a broad region outside the high RH zone with low RH air from the middle troposphere covering the low troposphere’s high relative humidity air. Consequently, on approximately 40% of the cyclone days, the cloud formation condition was improved from the near surface to the upper troposphere due to the cooling of strong rising warm humid air. Therefore, cyclones lead to middle cloud increases and sometimes high cloud increases, since the climatological Arctic autumn clouds are mainly low clouds. On approximately 60% of the cyclone days, only low cloud formed, but the low cloud formation condition was suppressed due to the mixing ratio decrease induced by cold dry air sinking. As a result, cyclones generally lead to a decrease in low clouds. However, the correlation between the cyclones and low clouds is complex and varies with surface ice conditions.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/4/689Arctic autumn cloudscloud changeArctic cyclones |
| spellingShingle | Xue Liu Yina Diao Ruipeng Sun Qinglong Gong Impacts of Cyclones on Arctic Clouds during Autumn in the Early 21st Century Atmosphere Arctic autumn clouds cloud change Arctic cyclones |
| title | Impacts of Cyclones on Arctic Clouds during Autumn in the Early 21st Century |
| title_full | Impacts of Cyclones on Arctic Clouds during Autumn in the Early 21st Century |
| title_fullStr | Impacts of Cyclones on Arctic Clouds during Autumn in the Early 21st Century |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impacts of Cyclones on Arctic Clouds during Autumn in the Early 21st Century |
| title_short | Impacts of Cyclones on Arctic Clouds during Autumn in the Early 21st Century |
| title_sort | impacts of cyclones on arctic clouds during autumn in the early 21st century |
| topic | Arctic autumn clouds cloud change Arctic cyclones |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/4/689 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT xueliu impactsofcyclonesonarcticcloudsduringautumnintheearly21stcentury AT yinadiao impactsofcyclonesonarcticcloudsduringautumnintheearly21stcentury AT ruipengsun impactsofcyclonesonarcticcloudsduringautumnintheearly21stcentury AT qinglonggong impactsofcyclonesonarcticcloudsduringautumnintheearly21stcentury |