Arctic sea ice albedo
Spectral composition, spatial heterogeneity, and temporal evolution observed during the MosaiC drift
Bibliographic Data
The magnitude, spectral composition, and variability of the Arctic sea ice surface albedo are key to understanding and numerically simulating Earth’s shortwave energy budget. Spectral and broadband albedos of Arctic sea ice were spatially and temporally sampled by on-ice observers along individual survey lines throughout the sunlit season (April–September, 2020) during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition. The seasonal evolution of albedo for the MOSAiC year was constructed from spatially averaged broadband albedo values for each line. Specific locations were identified as representative of individual ice surface types, including accumulated dry snow, melting snow, bare and melting ice, melting and refreezing ponded ice, and sediment-laden ice. The area-averaged seasonal progression of total albedo recorded during MOSAiC showed remarkable similarity to that recorded 22 years prior on multiyear sea ice during the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) expedition. In accord with these and other previous field efforts, the spectral albedo of relatively thick, snow-free, melting sea ice shows invariance across location, decade, and ice type. In particular, the albedo of snow-free, melting seasonal ice was indistinguishable from that of snow-free, melting second-year ice, suggesting that the highly scattering surface layer that forms on sea ice during the summer is robust and stabilizing. In contrast, the albedo of ponded ice was observed to be highly variable at visible wavelengths. Notable temporal changes in albedo were documented during melt and freeze onset, formation and deepening of melt ponds, and during melt evolution of sediment-laden ice. While model simulations show considerable agreement with the observed seasonal albedo progression, disparities suggest the need to improve how the albedo of both ponded ice and thin, melting ice are simulated
Antarctic sea ice · Arctic · Arctic ice pack · Atmospheric sciences · Climatology · Cryosphere · Geomorphology · Ice-albedo feedback · Melt pond · Sea ice · Sea ice concentration · Sea ice thickness · Snow · Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics · Climate change and permafrost · Cryospheric studies and observations · Environmental Science · Geology · Oceanography
Resiliency of Arctic sea ice to warming from southerly advection in early spring
Influence of warm and moist air intrusions on black carbon deposition and snowmelt in the central Arctic
Evolution of the microstructure and reflectance of the surface scattering layer on melting, level Arctic sea ice
Spatiotemporal evolution of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice
Toward a more realistic representation of surface albedo in Nasa Ceres-derived surface radiative fluxes
The MosaiC Distributed Network
The two radiative states of the Arctic atmosphere and their impacts on the surface energy budget of sea ice
Theoretical estimates of light transmittance at the MosaiC Central Observatory
Seasonality of spectral radiative fluxes and optical properties of Arctic sea ice during the spring–summer transition
Spatial variability in surface brightness and solar energy deposition of Arctic sea ice
Arctic surface snow interactions with the atmosphere
Relationships between summertime surface albedo and melt pond fraction in the central Arctic Ocean
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |