Seasonality in long-term temperature and radiation changes
in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard
Marion Maturilli1, Andreas Herber2, Gert König-Langlo2, Markus Kayser1
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research,
1 Potsdam, Germany
2 Bremerhaven, Germany
13th BSRN Scientific Review and Workshop, Bologna 9-12 Sept.2014
Ny-Ålesund (78.9° N, 11.9° E)
Arctic environment
with
marine and mountain influence
BSRN station since Aug 1992
surface meteorology
daily radiosonde profile
> 20 years of data
May
snow cover in spring
surface in summer
August
Temperature / °C
Annual Mean Temperature
Year
update of Maturilli et al., ESSD 2012
Monthly Mean Temperature
update of Maturilli et al., ESSD 2013
Monthly Mean Temperature
winter spring
update of Maturilli et al., ESSD 2013
summer
autumn
Seasonal Mean Temperature
update of Maturilli et al., Theor.Appl.Climatol. 2014
Winter: Polar Night Conditions
Increase in Winter Thermal Radiation
LWup
LWdown
from Maturilli et al., Theor.Appl.Climatol. 2014
Increase in Winter Thermal Radiation
non-significant (large scatter)
LWdown LWup
from Maturilli et al., Theor.Appl.Climatol. 2014
Increase in Winter Thermal Radiation
greenhouse gases
(CO2, O3,…)
temperature,
inversion layers
humidity
humidity
WHY ?
clouds
clouds
Increase in Winter Thermal Radiation
greenhouse gases
(CO2, O3,…)
temperature,
inversion layers
WHY ?
clouds
clouds
humidity
humidity
Analysis of radiosonde profiles
1 launch daily (12 UTC) since 1991
but with different sensors (RS80 / RS90 / RS92) !
several corrections applied to achieve dataset homogeneity
Radiosonde Humidity
applied corrections:
Wang et al.,
2002 et al., 2004
Miloshevich
Kivi et al., 2009
Master Thesis Markus Kayser
Radiosonde Integrated Water Vapor
Increase by about 0.5 kg*m-2/decade
IWF / kg*m-2
Overall:
Year
Master Thesis Markus Kayser
Clouds
Ceilometer: measurement of cloud bottom
since 1993, but with different instrumentation
ongoing activity within Ny-Alesund community
[International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere]
Chuck Long:
radiative flux analysis
to infer cloud coverage and potential changes
Reasons for Changes in Humidity & Clouds
Changes in atmospheric circulation
More cyclones reaching the Arctic, transporting humidity and cloud systems
‘Local’ source of humidity in the Arctic:
Sea ice retreat
more open water
more evaporation
IPCC, 2013
Univ.Bremen
What about the Summer Months ?
dominated by short-wave radiation
Net Short-Wave Radiation in
Summer
SWdown - SWup
from Maturilli et al., Theor.Appl.Climatol. 2014
Short-Wave Radiation in Summer
SWdown
SWup
from Maturilli et al., Theor.Appl.Climatol. 2014
Albedo
from Maturilli et al., Theor.Appl.Climatol. 2014
SWup / SWdown
Onset of Snow Melt
“Snow melt starts about 1 week earlier than 20 years ago.”
from Maturilli et al., Theor.Appl.Climatol. 2014
Albedo - Update 2014
SWup / SWdown
Onset of Snow Melt - July 2014
“Snow melt starts about 1 week earlier than 20 years ago.”
4 days
Summary
Ny-Ålesund BSRN Data
increase in winter temperature (>3 K / decade)
increase in winter LW radiation
clouds
humidity
Arctic change
increase in net radiation caused by decrease in reflected radiation
changing snow melt season
impact on ecosystem