Controls on surface aerosol particle number concentrations and aerosol-limited cloud regimes over the central Greenland Ice Sheet

Guy, Heather; Brooks, Ian M.; Carslaw, Ken S.; Murray, Benjamin J.; Walden, Von P.; Shupe, Matthew D.; Pettersen, Claire; Turner, David D.; Cox, Christopher J.; Neff, William D.; Bennartz, Ralf; Neely III, Ryan R.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15351-2021

Articles | Volume 21, issue 19

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15351-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15351-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 21, issue 19

Research article

|

14 Oct 2021

Research article |

| 14 Oct 2021

Controls on surface aerosol particle number concentrations and aerosol-limited cloud regimes over the central Greenland Ice Sheet

Heather Guy, Ian M. Brooks, Ken S. Carslaw, Benjamin J. Murray, Von P. Walden, Matthew D. Shupe, Claire Pettersen, David D. Turner, Christopher J. Cox, William D. Neff, Ralf Bennartz, and Ryan R. Neely III

Data sets

ICECAPS-ACE: surface aerosol concentration measurements (condensation nuclei > 5nm diameter) taken at Summit Station Greenland H. Guy, R. R. Neely III, and I. Brooks https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/f56980457ce240ccab5ac6d403c81e7a

Millimeter Cloud Radar measurements taken at Summit Station, Greenland, 2019. M. Shupe https://doi.org/10.18739/A2Q52FD4V

Micropulse lidar (MPL) measurements taken at Summit Station, Greenland, 2019. M. Shupe https://doi.org/10.18739/A2862BC30

Precipitation Occurrence Sensor System measurements taken at Summit Station, Greenland, 2019. M. Shupe https://doi.org/10.18739/A2GQ6R30G

Microwave Radiometer measurements of sky brightness temperature taken at Summit Station, Greenland, 2019. D. Turner and R. Bennartz https://doi.org/10.18739/A2TX3568P

Radiosonde temperature and humidity profiles taken at Summit Station, Greenland V. P. Walden and M. Shupe https://doi.org/10.18739/A20P0WR53

ERA5 hourly data on pressure levels from 1979 to present H. Hersbach, B. Bell, P. Berrisford, G. Biavati, A. Horányi, J. Muñoz Sabater, J. Nicolas, C. Peubey, R. Radu, I. Rozum, D. Schepers, A. Simmons, C. Soci, D. Dee, and J.-N. Thépaut https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.bd0915c6

Meteorology Measurements from the NOAA/ESRL/GMD Baseline Observatory Summit Station GMLMET https://gml.noaa.gov/aftp/data/meteorology/in-situ/sum/2019

Precipitation Occurrence Sensor System measurements taken at Summit Station, Greenland, 2019 M. Shupe https://doi.org/10.18739/A2GQ6R30G

Short summary

We present the first full year of surface aerosol number concentration measurements from the central Greenland Ice Sheet. Aerosol concentrations here have a distinct seasonal cycle from those at lower-altitude Arctic sites, which is driven by large-scale atmospheric circulation. Our results can be used to help understand the role aerosols might play in Greenland surface melt through the modification of cloud properties. This is crucial in a rapidly changing region where observations are sparse.