Open AccessA new albedo parameterization for use in climate models over the Antarctic ice sheet
Author(s) -
Kuipers Munneke P.,
van den Broeke M. R.,
Lenaerts J. T. M.,
Flanner M. G.,
Gardner A. S.,
van de Berg W. J.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2010jd015113
Subject(s) - shortwave , albedo (alchemy) , snow , shortwave radiation , environmental science , cloud albedo , atmospheric sciences , climatology , climate model , solar zenith angle , zenith , flux (metallurgy) , climate change , cloud cover , meteorology , geology , radiative transfer , remote sensing , radiation , geography , physics , cloud computing , art , oceanography , art history , performance art , materials science , computer science , operating system , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
A parameterization for broadband snow surface albedo, based on snow grain size evolution, cloud optical thickness, and solar zenith angle, is implemented into a regional climate model for Antarctica and validated against field observations of albedo for the period 1995–2004. Over the Antarctic continent, modeled snow grain size exhibits expected behavior. The agreement between modeled and observed albedo at Neumayer, Dronning Maud Land, is very good, and subtle variability in albedo is well captured by the model. December–February mean differences in modeled and observed net shortwave radiation range from −8.7 to +3.8 W m −2 between 1995 and 2004, with a mean value of −2.7 W m −2 . This is a considerable improvement compared to the previous albedo parameterization in the model, which led to overestimates of the net shortwave fluxes by +15.0 to +22.7 W m −2 , or 40–55% of the observed net shortwave flux, in the same period.