Combining MOSAiC and Satellite Observations for Radiative Closure and Climate Implications (MOSaRiCs)

The MOSaRiCs project aims to improve the understanding of the role of clouds in modulating the Arctic radiation budget and the Arctic climate system in general. The project is affiliated with ArctiC Amplification: Climate Relevant Atmospheric and SurfaCe Processes and Feedback Mechanisms (AC)³ project. Within MOSaRiCs, radiative transfer model (RTM) simulations will be implemented based on the unique continuous shipborne active remote sensing observations of clouds collected during the entire MOSAiC campaign.

Additionally, simulated top-of-atmosphere broadband radiative fluxes and infrared hyperspectral radiances will be used to assess top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiative closure with collocated observations from the CERES and IASI satellite instruments, respectively. The planned activities complement current MOSAiC and (AC)³ investigations towards a more insightful understanding of the Arctic cloud radiative effect. A comparison with cloud properties obtained from the Clouds from Infrared Sounders (CIRS) data set will reveal insights into its accuracy and limitations of its use as a climate data record for studying changes in cloudiness in the Arctic, a region known to be particularly challenging for satellite-based cloud retrievals.

Partial radiative perturbation and radiative kernel techniques will be used to quantify the sensitivity of radiative fluxes to the cloud, atmospheric profiles and surface properties. Moreover, it is planned to extend the analysis to quantify the inter-annual variability based on the existing decadal-scale observational records of CERES and IASI observations.