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Effects of Arctic haze on surface cloud radiative forcing
Author(s) -
Zhao Chuanfeng,
Garrett Timothy J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl062015
Subject(s) - environmental science , radiative forcing , atmospheric sciences , forcing (mathematics) , climatology , cloud forcing , haze , arctic , liquid water path , aerosol , effective radius , meteorology , geology , oceanography , physics , quantum mechanics , galaxy
From 4 years of observations from Barrow, Alaska, it is shown that the cloud radiative impact on the surface is a net warming effect between October and May and a net cooling in summer. During episodes of high surface haze aerosol concentrations and cloudy skies, both the net warming and net cooling are amplified, ranging from +12.2 Wm −2 in February to −11.8 Wm −2 in August. In liquid clouds, approximately 50%–70% of this change is caused by changes in cloud particle effective radius, with the remainder being caused by unknown atmospheric feedbacks that increase cloud water path. While the yearly averaged warming and cooling effects nearly cancel, the timing of the forcing may be a relevant control of the amplitude and timing of sea ice melt.