Specific Humidity Inversions Research Articles

Characteristics of the Antarctic Temperature and Specific Humidity Inversions in Airs Retrievals

Characteristics of the Antarctic Temperature and Specific Humidity Inversions in Airs Retrievals

Case study of a humidity layer above Arctic stratocumulus and potential turbulent coupling with the cloud top

Abstract. Specific humidity inversions (SHIs) above low-level cloud layers have been frequently observed in the Arctic. The formation of these SHIs is usually associated with large-scale advection of humid air masses. However, the potential coupling of SHIs with cloud layers by turbulent processes is not fully understood. In this study, we analyze a 3 d period of a persistent layer of increased specific humidity above a stratocumulus cloud observed during an Arctic field campaign in June 2017. The tethered balloon system BELUGA (Balloon-bornE moduLar Utility for profilinG the lower Atmosphere) recorded vertical profile data of meteorological, turbulence, and radiation parameters in the atmospheric boundary layer. An in-depth discussion of the problems associated with humidity measurements in cloudy environments leads to the conclusion that the observed SHIs do not result from measurement artifacts. We analyze two different scenarios for the SHI in relation to the cloud top capped by a temperature inversion: (i) the SHI coincides with the cloud top, and (ii) the SHI is vertically separated from the lowered cloud top. In the first case, the SHI and the cloud layer are coupled by turbulence that extends over the cloud top and connects the two layers by turbulent mixing. Several profiles reveal downward virtual sensible and latent heat fluxes at the cloud top, indicating entrainment of humid air supplied by the SHI into the cloud layer. For the second case, a downward moisture transport at the base of the SHI and an upward moisture flux at the cloud top is observed. Therefore, the area between the cloud top and SHI is supplied with moisture from both sides. Finally, large-eddy simulations (LESs) complement the observations by modeling a case of the first scenario. The simulations reproduce the observed downward turbulent fluxes of heat and moisture at the cloud top. The LES realizations suggest that in the presence of a SHI, the cloud layer remains thicker and the temperature inversion height is elevated.

Assessment of Temperature and Specific Humidity Inversions and Their Relationships in Three Global Reanalysis Products over the Arctic Ocean

AbstractCharacteristics of temperature inversions (TIs) and specific humidity inversions (SHIs) and their relationships in three of the latest global reanalyses—the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Interim Reanalysis (ERA-I), the Japanese 55-year Reanalysis (JRA-55), and the ERA5—are assessed against in situ radiosonde (RS) measurements from two expeditions over the Arctic Ocean. All reanalyses tend to detect many fewer TI and SHI occurrences, together with much less common multiple TIs and SHIs per profile than are seen in the RS data in summer 2008, winter 2015, and spring 2015. The reanalyses generally depict well the relationships among TI characteristics seen in RS data, except for the TIs below 400 m in summer, as well as above 1000 m in summer and winter. The depth is simulated worst by the reanalyses among the SHI characteristics, which may result from its sensitivity to the uncertainties in specific humidity in the reanalyses. The strongest TI per profile in RS data exhibits more robust dependency on surface conditions than the strongest SHI per profile, and the former is better presented by the reanalyses than the latter. Furthermore, all reanalyses have difficulties simulating the relationships between TIs and SHIs, together with the correlations between the simultaneous inversions. The accuracy and vertical resolution in the reanalyses are both important to properly capture occurrence and characteristics of the Arctic inversions. In general, ERA5 performs better than ERA-I and JRA-55 in depicting the relationships among the TIs. However, the representation of SHIs is more challenging than TIs in all reanalyses over the Arctic Ocean.

The Intraseasonal and Interannual Variability of Arctic Temperature and Specific Humidity Inversions

Temperature and humidity inversions are common in the Arctic’s lower troposphere, and are a crucial component of the Arctic’s climate system. In this study, we quantify the intraseasonal oscillation of Arctic temperature and specific humidity inversions and investigate its interannual variability using data from the Surface Heat Balance of the Arctic (SHEBA) experiment from October 1997 to September 1998 and the European Centre for Medium-Range Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis (ERA)-interim for the 1979–2017 period. In January 1998, there were two noticeable elevated inversions and one surface inversion. The transitions between elevated and surface-based inversions were associated with the intraseasonal variability of the temperature and humidity differences between 850 and 950 hPa. The self-organizing map (SOM) technique is utilized to obtain the main modes of surface and elevated temperature and humidity inversions on intraseasonal time scales. Low (high) pressure and more (less) cloud cover are related to elevated (surface) temperature and humidity inversions. The frequency of strong (weak) elevated inversions over the eastern hemisphere has decreased (increased) in the past three decades. The wintertime Arctic Oscillation (AO) and Arctic Dipole (AD) during their positive phases have a significant effect on the occurrence of surface and elevated inversions for two Nodes only.

Arctic Humidity Inversions: Climatology and Processes

Abstract The occurrence and characteristics of Arctic specific humidity inversions (SHIs) were examined on the basis of two reanalyses (ERA-Interim and JRA-55) and radiosonde sounding data from 2003 to 2014. Based on physical properties, the SHIs were divided into two main categories: SHIs below and above the 800-hPa level. Above the 800-hPa level, SHIs occurred simultaneously with relative humidity inversions and without the presence of a temperature inversion; these SHIs were probably formed when a moist air mass was advected over a dry air mass. SHIs below the 800-hPa level occurred simultaneously with temperature inversions in conditions of high relative humidity, which suggests that condensation had an important role in SHI formation. Below the 800-hPa level, SHI occurrence had a large seasonal and spatial variation, which depended on the surface heat budget. In winter, most SHIs were formed because of surface radiative cooling, and the occurrence of SHIs was high (even exceeding 90% of the time) on continents and over the ice-covered Arctic Ocean. In summer, the occurrence of SHIs was highest (70%–90%) over the coastal Arctic Ocean, where SHIs were generated by warm and moist air advection over a cold sea surface. In the reanalyses, the strongest SHIs occurred in summer over the Arctic Ocean. The comparisons between radiosonde soundings and the reanalyses showed that the main features of the seasonal and spatial variation of SHI occurrence and SHI strength were well represented in the reanalyses, but SHI strength was underestimated.

Arctic warming, moisture increase and circulation changes observed in the Ny-Ålesund homogenized radiosonde record

Radiosonde measurements obtained at the Arctic site Ny-Alesund (78.9°N, 11.9°E), Svalbard, from 1993 to 2014 have been homogenized accounting for instrumentation discontinuities by correcting known errors in the manufacturer provided profiles. The resulting homogenized radiosonde record is provided as supplementary material at http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.845373. From the homogenized data record, the first Ny-Alesund upper-air climatology of wind, temperature and humidity is presented, forming the background for the analysis of changes during the 22-year period. Particularly during the winter season, a strong increase in atmospheric temperature and humidity is observed, with a significant warming of the free troposphere in January and February up to 3 K per decade. This winter warming is even more pronounced in the boundary layer below 1 km, presumably amplified by mesoscale processes including e.g. orographic effects or the boundary layer capping inversion. Though the largest contribution to the increasing atmospheric water vapour column in winter originates from the lowermost 2 km, no increase in the contribution by specific humidity inversions is detected. Instead, we find an increase in the humidity content of the large-scale background humidity profiles. At the same time, the tropospheric flow in winter is found to occur less frequent from northerly directions and to the same amount more frequent from the South. We conclude that changes in the atmospheric circulation lead to an enhanced advection of warm and moist air from lower latitudes to the Svalbard region in the winter season, causing the warming and moistening of the atmospheric column above Ny-Alesund, and link the observations to changes in the Arctic Oscillation.

The Sensitivity of Springtime Arctic Mixed-Phase Stratocumulus Clouds to Surface-Layer and Cloud-Top Inversion-Layer Moisture Sources

Abstract In this study, a series of idealized large-eddy simulations is used to understand the relative impact of cloud-top and subcloud-layer sources of moisture on the microphysical–radiative–dynamical feedbacks in an Arctic mixed-phase stratocumulus (AMPS) cloud system. This study focuses on a case derived from observations of a persistent single-layer AMPS cloud deck on 8 April 2008 during the Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign near Barrow, Alaska. Moisture and moist static energy budgets are used to examine the potential impact of ice in mixed-phase clouds, specific humidity inversions coincident with temperature inversions as a source of moisture for the cloud system, and the presence of cloud liquid water above the mixed-layer top. This study demonstrates that AMPS have remarkable insensitivity to changes in moisture source. When the overlying air is dried initially, radiative cooling and turbulent entrainment increase moisture import from the surface layer. When the surface layer is dried initially, the system evolves to a state with reduced mixed-layer water vapor and increased surface-layer moisture, reducing the loss of water through precipitation and entrainment of near-surface air. Only when moisture is reduced both above and below the mixed layer does the AMPS decay without reaching a quasi-equilibrium state. A fundamental finding of this study is that, with or without cloud ice and with or without a specific humidity inversion, the cloud layer eventually extends into the temperature inversion producing a precipitation flux as a source of water into the mixed layer.

On the Relationship between Thermodynamic Structure and Cloud Top, and Its Climate Significance in the Arctic

Abstract Cloud and thermodynamic characteristics from three Arctic observation sites are investigated to understand the collocation between low-level clouds and temperature inversions. A regime where cloud top was 100–200 m above the inversion base [cloud inside inversion (CII)] was frequently observed at central Arctic Ocean sites, while observations from Barrow, Alaska, indicate that cloud tops were more frequently constrained to inversion base height [cloud capped by inversion (CCI)]. Cloud base and top heights were lower, and temperature inversions were also stronger and deeper, during CII cases. Both cloud regimes were often decoupled from the surface except for CCI over Barrow. In-cloud lapse rates differ and suggest increased cloud-mixing potential for CII cases. Specific humidity inversions were collocated with temperature inversions for more than 60% of the CCI and more than 85% of the CII regimes. Horizontal advection of heat and moisture is hypothesized as an important process controlling thermodynamic structure and efficiency of cloud-generated motions. The portion of CII clouds above the inversion contains cloud radar signatures consistent with cloud droplets. The authors test the longwave radiative impact of cloud liquid above the inversion through hypothetical liquid water distributions. Optically thin CII clouds alter the effective cloud emission temperature and can lead to an increase in surface flux on the order of 1.5 W m−2 relative to the same cloud but whose top does not extend above the inversion base. The top of atmosphere impact is even larger, increasing outgoing longwave radiation up to 10 W m−2. These results suggest a potentially significant longwave radiative forcing via simple liquid redistributions for a distinctly dominant cloud regime over sea ice.

Moisture and dynamical interactions maintaining decoupled Arctic mixed-phase stratocumulus in the presence of a humidity inversion

Abstract. Observations suggest that processes maintaining subtropical and Arctic stratocumulus differ, due to the different environments in which they occur. For example, specific humidity inversions (specific humidity increasing with height) are frequently observed to occur near cloud top coincident with temperature inversions in the Arctic, while they do not occur in the subtropics. In this study we use nested LES simulations of decoupled Arctic Mixed-Phase Stratocumulus (AMPS) clouds observed during the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program's Indirect and SemiDirect Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC) to analyze budgets of water components, potential temperature, and turbulent kinetic energy. These analyses quantify the processes that maintain decoupled AMPS, including the role of humidity inversions. Key structural features include a shallow upper entrainment zone at cloud top that is located within the temperature and humidity inversions, a mixed layer driven by cloud-top cooling that extends from the base of the upper entrainment zone to below cloud base, and a lower entrainment zone at the base of the mixed layer. The surface layer below the lower entrainment zone is decoupled from the cloud mixed-layer system. Budget results show that cloud liquid water is maintained in the upper entrainment zone near cloud top (within a temperature and humidity inversion) due to a down gradient transport of water vapor by turbulent fluxes into the cloud layer from above and direct condensation forced by radiative cooling. Liquid water is generated in the updraft portions of the mixed-layer eddies below cloud top by buoyant destabilization. These processes cause at least 20% of the cloud liquid water to extend into the inversion. The redistribution of water vapor from the top of the humidity inversion to its base maintains the cloud layer, while the mixed layer-entrainment zone system is continually losing total water. In this decoupled system, the humidity inversion is the only source of water vapor for the cloud system, since water vapor from the surface layer is not efficiently transported into the mixed layer. Sedimentation of ice is the dominant sink of moisture from the mixed layer.

Characteristics of Temperature and Humidity Inversions and Low-Level Jets over Svalbard Fjords in Spring

Air temperature and specific humidity inversions and low-level jets were studied over two Svalbard fjords, Isfjorden and Kongsfjorden, applying three tethersonde systems. Tethersonde operation practices notably affected observations on inversion and jet properties. The inversion strength and depth were strongly affected by weather conditions at the 850 hPa level. Strong inversions were deep with a highly elevated base, and the strongest ones occurred in warm air mass. Unexpectedly, downward longwave radiation measured at the sounding site did not correlate with the inversion properties. Temperature inversions had lower base and top heights than humidity inversions, the former due to surface cooling and the latter due to adiabatic cooling with height. Most low-level jets were related to katabatic winds. Over the ice-covered Kongsfjorden, jets were lifted above a cold-air pool on the fjord; the jet core was located highest when the snow surface was coldest. At the ice-free Isfjorden, jets were located lower.