Cloud Radiative Forcing in the High Arctic

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The Arctic is recognized as an area that is particularly sensitive to climate change, the effects of which are not regionally limited but extend to the entire, global climate system. Cloud radiative forcing and the surface response to such forcing are components of competing feedback mechanisms that can enhance or dampen the response of the Arctic system to changes in climate. This project is focused on the study of radiative forcing based on measurements to be taken in a wide range of surface and cloud conditions. Funds are provided to acquire measurements of the critical components of the surface radiation budget using sensors of robust design, all having been successfully deployed on prior icebreaker expeditions. The physical processes that determine the effects of clouds on the surface radiation budget in the High Arctic will be observed during the end-of-summer freezeup in 2007. Access to the central High Arctic during an international collaborative expedition aboard the Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker Yamal presents a unique opportunity to sample this remote and challenging region of the globe. The timing of the project falls within the International Polar Year and the measurements complement those of the "International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere" (IASOA) stations, and the DOE ARM site at Barrow, all of which are coastal.