Cloud radiative effect dominates variabilities of surface energy budget in the dark Arctic
Abstract Climate models simulate a wide range of temperatures in the Arctic. Here we investigate one of the main drivers of changes in surface temperature: the net surface heat flux in the models. We show that in the winter months of the dark Arctic, there is a more than two-fold difference in the n...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86322-2 |
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| _version_ | 1832585870240120832 |
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| author | Cheng Tao Minghua Zhang Shaocheng Xie |
| author_facet | Cheng Tao Minghua Zhang Shaocheng Xie |
| author_sort | Cheng Tao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Climate models simulate a wide range of temperatures in the Arctic. Here we investigate one of the main drivers of changes in surface temperature: the net surface heat flux in the models. We show that in the winter months of the dark Arctic, there is a more than two-fold difference in the net surface heat fluxes among the models, and this difference is dominated by the downward infrared radiation from clouds. Owing to the small amount of water vapor in the winter Arctic, infrared radiation from clouds transmits more easily to the surface in the Arctic than at other latitudes, resulting in large cloud radiative effect at the surface. The dominant role of the cloud effect is also found in the transient variability of the net surface heat flux. Results demonstrate that accurate simulation of clouds is crucial for determining the net surface heat flux, which in turn affects surface temperature and sea ice properties in the Arctic. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b9e5838129a8470da49dae6fa263a044 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-b9e5838129a8470da49dae6fa263a0442025-01-26T12:28:01ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-01-0115111010.1038/s41598-025-86322-2Cloud radiative effect dominates variabilities of surface energy budget in the dark ArcticCheng Tao0Minghua Zhang1Shaocheng Xie2Lawrence Livermore National LaboratorySchool of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook UniversityLawrence Livermore National LaboratoryAbstract Climate models simulate a wide range of temperatures in the Arctic. Here we investigate one of the main drivers of changes in surface temperature: the net surface heat flux in the models. We show that in the winter months of the dark Arctic, there is a more than two-fold difference in the net surface heat fluxes among the models, and this difference is dominated by the downward infrared radiation from clouds. Owing to the small amount of water vapor in the winter Arctic, infrared radiation from clouds transmits more easily to the surface in the Arctic than at other latitudes, resulting in large cloud radiative effect at the surface. The dominant role of the cloud effect is also found in the transient variability of the net surface heat flux. Results demonstrate that accurate simulation of clouds is crucial for determining the net surface heat flux, which in turn affects surface temperature and sea ice properties in the Arctic.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86322-2 |
| spellingShingle | Cheng Tao Minghua Zhang Shaocheng Xie Cloud radiative effect dominates variabilities of surface energy budget in the dark Arctic Scientific Reports |
| title | Cloud radiative effect dominates variabilities of surface energy budget in the dark Arctic |
| title_full | Cloud radiative effect dominates variabilities of surface energy budget in the dark Arctic |
| title_fullStr | Cloud radiative effect dominates variabilities of surface energy budget in the dark Arctic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cloud radiative effect dominates variabilities of surface energy budget in the dark Arctic |
| title_short | Cloud radiative effect dominates variabilities of surface energy budget in the dark Arctic |
| title_sort | cloud radiative effect dominates variabilities of surface energy budget in the dark arctic |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86322-2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chengtao cloudradiativeeffectdominatesvariabilitiesofsurfaceenergybudgetinthedarkarctic AT minghuazhang cloudradiativeeffectdominatesvariabilitiesofsurfaceenergybudgetinthedarkarctic AT shaochengxie cloudradiativeeffectdominatesvariabilitiesofsurfaceenergybudgetinthedarkarctic |