Articles | Volume 20, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6607-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6607-2020
Research article
 | 
05 Jun 2020
Research article |  | 05 Jun 2020

Evaluation of Southern Ocean cloud in the HadGEM3 general circulation model and MERRA-2 reanalysis using ship-based observations

Peter Kuma, Adrian J. McDonald, Olaf Morgenstern, Simon P. Alexander, John J. Cassano, Sally Garrett, Jamie Halla, Sean Hartery, Mike J. Harvey, Simon Parsons, Graeme Plank, Vidya Varma, and Jonny Williams

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Cited articles

Alexander, S. and Protat, A.: Cloud properties observed from the surface and by satellite at the northern edge of the Southern Ocean, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 123, 443–456, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017jd026552, 2018. a
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Bodas-Salcedo, A., Webb, M., Bony, S., Chepfer, H., Dufresne, J.-L., Klein, S., Zhang, Y., Marchand, R., Haynes, J., Pincus, R., and John, V. O.: COSP: Satellite simulation software for model assessment, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 92, 1023–1043, https://doi.org/10.1175/2011bams2856.1, 2011. a, b
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We evaluate clouds over the Southern Ocean in the climate model HadGEM3 and reanalysis MERRA-2 using ship-based ceilometer and radiosonde observations. We find the models underestimate cloud cover by 18–25 %, with clouds below 2 km dominant in reality but lacking in the models. We find a strong link between clouds, atmospheric stability and sea surface temperature in observations but not in the models, implying that sub-grid processes do not generate enough cloud in response to these conditions.
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