Radiative energy budget and cloud radiative forcing in the daytime marginal sea ice zone during Arctic spring and summer

Abstract

Abstract. Airborne measurements of the surface radiative energy budget (REB) collected in the area of the marginal sea ice zone (MIZ) close to Svalbard (Norway) during two campaigns conducted in early spring and and early summer are presented. From the data, the cloud radiative forcing was derived. The analysis is focussed on the impact of changing atmospheric thermodynamic conditions on the REB and on the linkage of sea ice properties and cloud radiative forcing (CRF). The observed two-mode longwave net irradiance frequency distributions above sea ice are compared with measurements from previous studies. The transition of both states (cloudy and cloud-free) from winter towards summer and the associated broadening of the modes is discussed as a function of the seasonal thermodynamic profiles and the surface type. The influence of cold air outbreaks (CAO) and warm air intrusions on the REB is illustrated for several case studies, whereby the source and sink terms of REB in the evolving CAO boundary layer are quantified. Furthermore, the role of thermodynamic profiles and the vertical location of clouds during on-ice flow is illustrated. The sea ice concentration was identified as the main driver of the shortwave cooling by the clouds. The longwave warming of clouds, estimated to about 75\u2009W\u2009m−2, seems to be representative for this region, as compared to other studies. Simplified radiative transfer simulations of the frequently observed low-level boundary layer clouds and average thermodynamic profiles represent the observed radiative quantities fairly well. The simulations illustrate the delicate interplay of surface and cloud properties that modify the REB and CRF, and the challenges in quantifying trends in the Arctic REB induced by potential changes of the cloud optical thickness.