Climatology of aerosol and cloud optical properties at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurements Climate Research Facility Barrow and Atqasuk sites

The long-term measurements at the Barrow and Atqasuk sites have been processed to develop the climatology of aerosol and cloud properties at interannual, seasonal, and diurnal temporal scales. At the Barrow site, the surface temperature exhibits an increasing trend in both thawed and frozen seasons over the period studied here, about one decade. Corresponding to the warming, the snow melting day arrives earlier, and the non-snow-cover duration increases. Aerosol optical depth increased during 2001–2003 and 2005–2009 and decreased during 2003–2005. The liquid water path (LWP), cloud optical depth (COD), and cloud fraction exhibit apparently decreasing trends from 2002 to 2007 and increased significantly after 2008. In the frozen season, the arctic haze and ice clouds are dominant, while in the thawed season, the oceanic biogenic aerosols and liquid water clouds or mixed-phase clouds are dominant. The cloud droplet effective radius during the thawed season is larger than that during the frozen season. The diurnal variations of aerosol and cloud-related atmospheric properties are not obvious at these two sites. During the sunshine periods, the aerosol has a cooling effect on the surface through direct aerosol radiative forcing. In the frozen season, clouds have a positive impact on the net surface radiation, and the water vapor path, LWP, and COD have good positive correlations with the surface temperature, suggesting that the cloud radiation feedback is positive. In the thawed season, clouds have a negative impact on the net surface radiation.