Evaluation of NCEP Re-Analysis of Radiation and Cloud Products in the Arctic Based on Comparison Between Ground-Based and Space-Borne Measurements
Storvold, R.(a), Portis, D.H.(b), Marty, C.(a), Walsh, J.E.(a), Stamnes, K.H.(c), and Zak, B.D.(d), University of Alaska Fairbanks (a), University of Illinois (b), Stevens Institute of Technology (c), Sandia National Laboratories (d)
Thirteenth Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Science Team Meeting
We have evaluated the performance of the NCEP re-analysis in the Arctic by comparing ground-based measurements obtained at the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Measurement Program (ARM) sites on the North Slope of Alaska with space-borne retrievals based on the MODIS dataset. The DOE ARM program operates two Cloud And Radiation Testbed (CART) sites on the North Slope of Alaska. The main measurement site located in Barrow (7119N, 15637W) has been in operation since 1998 and the second site located in Atqasuk (7028N, 15724W) since 2000. Barrow is located on the Arctic Coast while Atqasuk is about 100 km inland (south) in the approximately midway between the Brooks Range and the coastline. We have evaluated how well the re-analysis model calculates the surface radiation fluxes during different atmospheric conditions. In particular we compare modeled and measured solar and terrestrial irradiances for clear, cloudy and patchy skies in different seasons. The composition of the frequently observed low arctic stratus changes from pure liquid water phase in the summer to mixed-phase in the transition between summer and winter to almost pure ice phase in the middle of winter. The purpose of this work is to identify weaknesses in model parameterizations. The ultimate goal is to improve climate model performance by correcting these problems.
Note: This is the poster abstract presented at the meeting; an extended version was not provided by the author(s).
