Integrated Characterization of Energy, Clouds, Atmospheric State, and Precipitation at Summit (ICECAPS)

This award supports a field campaign that will expand the Arctic Observing Network (AON) by adding cloud, atmosphere, and precipitation measurements, and associated higher-order data products, to Summit, Greenland, at the top of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The proposed instrument suite consists of a cloud radar, two microwave radiometers, an Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer, an X-band precipitation sensor, a ceilometer, a micropulse lidar, and a twice-daily radiosonde program. Measurements from this advanced suite of instruments, combined with some ongoing measurements at Summit, will be input for a number of algorithms to produce climatically useful geophysical data products to support GIS-specific and Arctic-wide research. Data products will include: (1) Atmospheric State - temperature and moisture profiles through the troposphere and lower stratosphere; (2) Cloud Macrophysics - cloud occurrence, vertical boundaries, and temperatures; (3) Cloud Microphysics - cloud phase, water content, optical depth, and particle size; (4) Precipitation - precipitation type and rate; and (5) Cloud Radiative Forcing - impact of clouds on the surface radiation balance. Together these products will augment similar data sets that are produced at other locations across the Arctic.