First Observational Evidence That Dust‐Driven Cloud Phase Changes Cool the Surface Over Summertime Arctic Sea Ice

Abstract Cloud phase has important impacts on Arctic surface temperatures, and circumstantial evidence suggests that dust aerosols have strong regional impacts on Arctic cloud phase. We used 7 years of satellite observations and model and reanalysis products to control for co‐varying meteorology, an...

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Main Authors: L. M. Zamora, R. A. Kahn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-10-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110423
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author L. M. Zamora
R. A. Kahn
author_facet L. M. Zamora
R. A. Kahn
author_sort L. M. Zamora
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Cloud phase has important impacts on Arctic surface temperatures, and circumstantial evidence suggests that dust aerosols have strong regional impacts on Arctic cloud phase. We used 7 years of satellite observations and model and reanalysis products to control for co‐varying meteorology, and to assess how dust and other aerosols impact cloud phase and cloud radiative effects over the summertime sea ice. We focus on clouds at 3 km, where dust modeling is most accurate. There is strong indication that dust aerosols caused about 4.5% of clouds below −15°C to change phase, with smaller effects at higher temperatures. Sulfate has a smaller impact on cloud phase. Dust is associated with cloud‐mediated surface cooling of up to a 6.3 W m−2 below single‐layer clouds at ∼3 km in June. This is the first observational study to constrain likely dust‐related cloud radiative effects over the summertime Arctic sea ice.
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spelling doaj-art-a363a1d324c0414ab79a7b584a2e90a52025-08-20T03:12:52ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072024-10-015119n/an/a10.1029/2024GL110423First Observational Evidence That Dust‐Driven Cloud Phase Changes Cool the Surface Over Summertime Arctic Sea IceL. M. Zamora0R. A. Kahn1Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center University of Maryland College Park MD USANASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt MD USAAbstract Cloud phase has important impacts on Arctic surface temperatures, and circumstantial evidence suggests that dust aerosols have strong regional impacts on Arctic cloud phase. We used 7 years of satellite observations and model and reanalysis products to control for co‐varying meteorology, and to assess how dust and other aerosols impact cloud phase and cloud radiative effects over the summertime sea ice. We focus on clouds at 3 km, where dust modeling is most accurate. There is strong indication that dust aerosols caused about 4.5% of clouds below −15°C to change phase, with smaller effects at higher temperatures. Sulfate has a smaller impact on cloud phase. Dust is associated with cloud‐mediated surface cooling of up to a 6.3 W m−2 below single‐layer clouds at ∼3 km in June. This is the first observational study to constrain likely dust‐related cloud radiative effects over the summertime Arctic sea ice.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110423arcticaerosol‐cloud interactionscloud phasedustcloud radiative effectscloudsat
spellingShingle L. M. Zamora
R. A. Kahn
First Observational Evidence That Dust‐Driven Cloud Phase Changes Cool the Surface Over Summertime Arctic Sea Ice
Geophysical Research Letters
arctic
aerosol‐cloud interactions
cloud phase
dust
cloud radiative effects
cloudsat
title First Observational Evidence That Dust‐Driven Cloud Phase Changes Cool the Surface Over Summertime Arctic Sea Ice
title_full First Observational Evidence That Dust‐Driven Cloud Phase Changes Cool the Surface Over Summertime Arctic Sea Ice
title_fullStr First Observational Evidence That Dust‐Driven Cloud Phase Changes Cool the Surface Over Summertime Arctic Sea Ice
title_full_unstemmed First Observational Evidence That Dust‐Driven Cloud Phase Changes Cool the Surface Over Summertime Arctic Sea Ice
title_short First Observational Evidence That Dust‐Driven Cloud Phase Changes Cool the Surface Over Summertime Arctic Sea Ice
title_sort first observational evidence that dust driven cloud phase changes cool the surface over summertime arctic sea ice
topic arctic
aerosol‐cloud interactions
cloud phase
dust
cloud radiative effects
cloudsat
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110423
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AT rakahn firstobservationalevidencethatdustdrivencloudphasechangescoolthesurfaceoversummertimearcticseaice