First Observational Evidence That Dust‐Driven Cloud Phase Changes Cool the Surface Over Summertime Arctic Sea Ice

Abstract

Abstract Cloud phase has important impacts on Arctic surface temperatures, and circumstantial evidence suggests that dust aerosols have strong regional impacts on Arctic cloud phase. We used 7 years of satellite observations and model and reanalysis products to control for co‐varying meteorology, and to assess how dust and other aerosols impact cloud phase and cloud radiative effects over the summertime sea ice. We focus on clouds at 3 km, where dust modeling is most accurate. There is strong indication that dust aerosols caused about 4.5% of clouds below −15°C to change phase, with smaller effects at higher temperatures. Sulfate has a smaller impact on cloud phase. Dust is associated with cloud‐mediated surface cooling of up to a 6.3 W m−2 below single‐layer clouds at ∼3 km in June. This is the first observational study to constrain likely dust‐related cloud radiative effects over the summertime Arctic sea ice.

Keywords

• arctic
• aerosol‐cloud interactions
• cloud phase
• dust
• cloud radiative effects
• cloudsat