Modelling the atmospheric boundary-layer of the marginal ice zone: an ACCACIA case study

The ACCACIA (Aerosol-Cloud Coupling And Climate Interactions in the Arctic) project has the aim of increasing our understanding of the effects of cloud and aerosol on the Arctic surface energy budget, and their role in the climate system. It is primarily focussed on the low-level boundary layer clouds that are prevalent in the Arctic and on the physical and dynamical processes that control their properties. These processes are relatively poorly represented in models.

Simulations with the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) numerical model have been carried out with a number of different boundary-layer parametrisation schemes tested. Several case studies are examined, with model output compared to observations from an aircraft-based field campaign which was undertaken in the spring of 2013 in the vicinity of Svalbard in Arctic Norway. The case studies where chosen such that they have different boundary-layer characteristics, allowing for more insight into the ability of the parametrisations to represent different scenarios.

This poster gives an overview of the results of this study and discusses future work to improve the understanding of the Arctic boundary-layer and its representation in models.