Articles | Volume 25, issue 20
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12831-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12831-2025
Research article
 | 
15 Oct 2025
Research article |  | 15 Oct 2025

Quantifying the impact of solar zenith angle, cloud optical thickness, and surface albedo on the solar radiative effect of Arctic low-level clouds over open ocean and sea ice

Sebastian Becker, André Ehrlich, Michael Schäfer, and Manfred Wendisch

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Cited articles

Becker, S., Ehrlich, A., Schäfer, M., and Wendisch, M.: Airborne observations of the surface cloud radiative effect during different seasons over sea ice and open ocean in the Fram Strait, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7015–7031, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7015-2023, 2023. a, b, c, d, e, f
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Choi, Y.-S., Hwang, J., Ok, J., Park, D.-S. R., Su, H., Jiang, J. H., Huang, L., and Limpasuvan, T.: Effect of Arctic clouds on the ice-albedo feedback in midsummer, Int. J. Climatol., 40, 4707–4714, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.6469, 2020. a
Cox, C. J., Walden, V. P., Rowe, P. M., and Shupe, M. D.: Humidity trends imply increased sensitivity to clouds in a warming Arctic, Nat. Commun., 6, 10117, https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10117, 2015. a
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Short summary
Clouds interact with solar radiation and can alter the surface temperature. The strength of this cloud impact is driven by cloud properties as well as solar elevation and surface reflection. As these dependencies are poorly represented in climate models, cloud, surface, and radiation observations are used to quantify the contributions of the drivers in the Arctic. It is shown that the weaker surface reflection dominates the stronger cooling effect of clouds over open ocean compared to sea ice.
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