Processing of Radar, Lidar and Radiometer Data Sets to Produce Cloud Microphysical and Optical Properties for the SHEBA Annual Cycle

Noaa Environmental Technology Laboratory, Silver Spring MD

Investigators

Abstract

This project is part of an integrated set of proposals for the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (SHEBA) Ocean project. The goal of the current phase of the SHEBA project is to use data collected during a one year experiment during which an icebreaker frozen into the ice pack of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas was used as a platform for data collection. A full annual cycle of data relating to feedbacks of the ocean-ice-atmosphere system was collected and will be used to improve model parameterizations of sea ice response to global warming. This project will further analyze radar, lidar, and radiometer data taken during the field program to produce a data set that is essential for determining cloud properties controlling cloud-radiation feedback mechanisms. The activities of this project are an essential effort to enhance the outcome of the SHEBA research projects designed to improve column, mesoscale and General Circulation Models (GCMs) that facilitate better simulations of the Arctic sea ice response to projected global warming trends.